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Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness (Part 1)

GentlenessGal. 5:22 Amplified Bible

“But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].”

Gentleness, (meekness, humility) is one of the hardest Christian virtues to develop in our lives. A person who needs humility thinks they don’t need it at all, and thats proof that they do need it.

In this message we will be looking at Gentleness, meekness, and humility.

Gentleness

The word “Gentle” in the Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language: “Mild; meek; soft; bland; not rough, harsh or severe; as a gentle nature, temper or disposition; a tame; peaceable, not wild, turbulent or refractory, soothing, treating with mildness, not violent.”

Are you a gentle person? How do you respond when someone rubs you the wrong way? Are you rough, harsh, or wild in your response or are you meek, humble, and peaceable?

Phil. 4:5 NIV

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

This fruit of gentleness should be seen by the world, Christian and non-Christians alike should see you as a gentle person. Gentleness preserves us and brings peace in our lives. When we are calm and gentle with our responses to others, our lives are better for it.

I use to think it was my right and duty to tell someone how they hurt me. I wanted them to know that what they did had much consequence in my life. After I spewed out my retaliation I felt good and life was better. But was it? Telling someone the negative things of how you feel towards them or trying to stand up for yourself just makes you look bad, especially in how you deliver it. In my case, I usually delivered it with much emotion and fire. No one could stand after receiving my wrath. It was never a good thing. I was deceived in thinking it was okay to behave like that. It didn’t show gentleness in any form. It wasn’t the fruit of the spirit manifesting in my life it was the fruit of pride and selfishness. This was a hard lesson for me to learn.

We are to be gentle when dealing with people, especially when we are correcting them.

Gal. 6:1 Amplified Bible

“Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.”

Meekness

Gentleness is also known as meekness as you saw in the Dictionaries definition of gentle. Being meek is part of being gentle.

It is hard to respond sometimes with gentleness. Human nature tells us to stand up for ourselves and don’t allow others to get away with hurting us. Meekness differs from gentleness. In many ways these two fruit of the Spirit at the same; but meekness is an inward and passive thing, and gentleness is an outward and active thing. A man feels meek, but he acts gently.

Interesting when Moses, Jesus, John the Baptist, Stephan, and many others, were standing up for truth, and what was right, they would speak boldly. They even called those they were speaking to as “Brood of vipers or Stiffed neck, or Hypocrites. But when they were accused they didn’t speak up for themselves or retaliate. This is meekness.

Meekness is not weakness. Meekness requires great strength.

Numbers 12:3 Amplified Bible

“Now the man Moses was very meek (gentle, kind, and humble) or above all the men on the face of the earth.”

Moses was a meek man yet he was one of the greatest leaders in history. He could be stern when an occasion demanded; for example when he made the worshipers of the golden calf drink the dust of their own idol (Exodus 32:30). This was holy zeal for the sake of God Almighty.

When Moses own name was reproached by his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, he didn’t make any attempt to retaliate. This reveals the true character of the man, and his meekness.

Stephen is another good example. His meekness shines in his prayer for his murderers when they were stoning him: “And falling on his knees, he cried out loudly, Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]! And when he had said this, he fell asleep [in death].” (Acts 7:60 Amplified Bible)

With Stephen, there was no appearance of weakness when he scolded the Sanhedrin, “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost” (Acts 7:51 KJV).

Notice the qualities in Moses and Stephan: zeal for God, but meekness for self.

What about Jesus? Scripture tells us that he was “led as a lamb to the slaughter” yet cleansed the temple with a whip! Jesus didn’t have to go to the cross. He said, “Don’t you know I can call on a legion of angles and they would deliver me.” But He humbled Himself under the mighty hand of God because He knew that was what God wanted Him to do and what was going to be best for everybody else.

He didn’t use His power to get out of something but humbled Himself to go through something that He thought God wanted Him to go through. It would be like if somebody really did me dirty and it made me made and I knew I had the ability to get them back but I refused to do that because I knew it wasn’t what God wanted me to do. That’s meekness. When you have the ability to do something but you won’t do it because you don’t believe that is what God wants you to do. Amen!

That’s a powerful person. It takes a much more powerful person to wait on God then to take fleshly action in your own zeal. “Well bless God you are not going to treat me that way!” If that fire is in you, allow God to give you a different kind of fire.

If you have the authority or ability to get even or hurt the other person who spoke badly about you this is what you need to do: Forgive, pray, and bless (FPB) and allow God to take care of the situation.

There was a person who was on my staff and to my face they were kind and nice and seemed obedient, but I was getting feed back from other people who were around them that they were speaking negative words about me to others. It hurt me. I was in the position to give her fits in our staff meetings, or even point blank tell her I knew what she was saying about me behind my back. I could have taken action but I humbled myself instead. I loved her every time I saw her. This wasn’t easy. I had to pray constantly when I was in her presence, and when I thought about her. God told me to give her some gifts even though I knew what I knew about her. It was hard. I felt I was wasting them on her because she didn’t deserve them. But, I obeyed in spite of what I felt. Eventually she left the staff and did her own thing. Months went by and one day she attended where I was speaking at. By this time God showed me her character and condition of her heart and it made me pray for her every time I thought of her. After the service I went up to her and her friend and asked if there was anything she wanted prayer for. She broke down and started to cry and asked for my forgiveness. She didn’t say why, but I knew, yet she didn’t know I knew. God gave me so much love for her at that moment. I saw her countenance change from anxiety and fear to peace and joy. I never told her what I knew. It didn’t seem to matter any more. Later she thanked me and said she had peace for the first time in over a year.

You see we never know what others are going through because of the mean things they have done to you. Meekness is holding back your strength when you have the power to let them have it! Meekness is gentleness and humility all rolled up into one. Are you a gentle person?

Meekness is not weakness at all. A meek man is a powerful man, a real man. Jesus was a meek man. A real man. A powerful man. A gentle man is a real man. What has happened to gentlemen? My husband still will open the door for me or hold a door as I walk into a store. Even if I opened the store door and motion for him to walk in, he will put his arm out and hold the door and I know I am to walk in first. This is being a gentleman. He has the power to push his way in first, but he chooses not too.

We as believers we need to fight for these qualities. We need to fight for these virtues. The way we do it is by being a good example everywhere we go. The Fruit of the Spirit is there for our taking but many don’t. Why? I believe because it costs them something. It costs us to change.

Do you know the Bible promises things to those who are meek?

The promises to the meek:

  1. The meek shall eat and be satisfied (Psalm 22:26)
  2. The meek will He guide in judgment (Psalm 25:9)
  3. The meek will He teach His way (Psalm 25:9)
  4. The meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5)
  5. The meek will find rest for their souls (Matthew 11:28 – 30)

Matthew 11:28 – 30 KJV

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Humility

Humility is so major. I give kudos to those who came today and have come during this Fruit of the Spirit series. It means that you want to grow. A lot of people want to see what God can do for them, but they really don’t want to hear what they need to do.

We are living in darkness but we are the light. Everyone of us need to dust off our bulbs and get ourself turned up to full power! There is a great danger living in the world today because we can drift. If you don’t set an example for your kids in your home, I don’t know what is going to happen to them. There was a day if the parents didn’t do their job there would be people and heroes out there that would be an example. WE have to bring it up higher!

The Fruit of the Spirit, these are the most beautiful things you can show your children.

Philippians 2:3 Amplified Bible

“Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourself].” 

That doesn’t mean to think lowly of yourself. That’s not what it means at all. It means not to think you are better then other people. Are you willing to listen to what they have to say. They might be right and you are wrong? Can you receive a word of correction from them? Listen, you have no idea how God will speak to you.

God had to talk to a prophet through a donkey. A person with a humble attitude is willing to receive. Don’t think that you are better then other people or that what you do is more important then what somebody else does. Don’t have a lowly opinion of yourself, but never mistreat somebody else because you think that you are better then them. These are things we have to think about a little bit.

Philippians 2:4 – 7 Amplified Bible

“Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others. Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, but stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.”

Jesus coming down here and becoming a human would be like us seeing a little red ant and we decided to become an ant and crawl around in the dirt to help them. Jesus sweat drops of blood under the pressure of enduring the cross. He had the power to walk away from it but was obedient to what His Father wanted.

Philippians 2:8 – 11 Amplified Bible

“And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue [frankly and openly confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Humility comes before honor, and pride goes before destruction. (Proverbs 16:18 , Proverbs 15:33.) Pride destroys us but humility promotes and blesses us.

The devil’s sin was pride. Interesting. He lost his position through pride and will live in everlasting shame because of it. Jesus bought us back and He received His position through humility. Humility had to come to overcome the pride of the enemy. We were stolen through pride and gained back through humility. Powerful!

Naturally the devil wants us to be like him. He wants us to take on his nature. He wants us to be full of me, myself, and I. I think, I want, I know. Until you get throughly fed up with you, talking about you, thinking about you, and trying to make provision for you. Some of you are just about there aren’t you?!

I’m tired of thinking about myself, worrying about myself, trying to make plans for myself, trying to make everything work out for myself. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and see what God can do. That place of humility brings you into rest. It brings an ease.

Next week Part 2 of Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness. We will be looking more at Humility and The 50 Fruit of Pride.

Pastor Kris Belfils

http://www.KrisBelfils.com

http://www.HopeFellowshipSpokane.com

http://www.krisbelfils.wordspress.com

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Fruit of the Spirit – Faithfulness

FaithfulnessGalatians 5:22 – 23 Amplified Bible

“But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].”

The Holy Spirit’s presence within us is working to help bring out His fruit in us. It does’t matter if you are the meanest, cruelest, harshest person on earth, if you have Christ living within you (You have asked Him in your heart as your Lord and Savior), you have His Spirit in you prompting you to change and be more like Him. It is not a personality thing. You can’t use the excuse; “This is my personality so that is why I am the way I am.” That is a copout and compromise for NOT wanting to change.

We need to be tender and open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He does this in love. He knows what you can be. We only see what we are or what we have been. That is why we struggle with change. We think we will be someone we are not. This is not the case. God wants us to have life and to have it more abundantly.

John 10:10 Amplified Bible

“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”

This verse lets us know that we are to enjoy life. It also lets us know that if our behavior, if our character tends to want to steal, kill, or destroy, then it is not godly. The opposite of any of the fruit of the Spirit reeks of the devil. Opposite of love is hate. Opposite of joy is depression or sadness. Opposite of peace is turmoil, and so on. It reeks also of our flesh and not the Spirit. You can see the fruit of the Spirit is for our good not for our bad.

In this message I want to talk about the fruit of faithfulness. Most of the time people think it is the fruit of faith, but that is not the case. Faithfulness is what we do. Faith is what we have.

God is faithful. You have a seed of everything of God in you. When you accept Christ in your heart, it is there. It needs to develop and mature.

As His children He wants us to emulate Him. We need to be faithful like God is. To be faithful is to do what is right all the time. Not just part of the time.

One of the most important lessons we can learn is to be faithful with something until God lets us know that we are finished with it. There are times when God will call us out of one place and put us into another one – no doubt about that. But I don’t believe that God changes the plan very frequently.

A faithful person

A faithful person knows what God has put in their heart, and even though many times they feel like quitting, they don’t give up. They don’t leave a place because they want to leave, or a job because they don’t want to be there anymore. They don’t get out of a relationship because they don’t want to bother with certain things in it anymore.

A faithful person is committed to doing whatever God tells them to do no matter what it costs them personally.

A faithful person sees something all the way through to the end. There are so many divorces and so much job-hopping and church-hopping in society today because many people don’t understand what commitment means.

A faithful person understands that no matter where they may go to church they won’t like everything that happens. Stay where God has placed you. The way we grow is to stay planted in one place. How many times people give up on a church and later regret it because they see how they would have grown and matured better at their previous church? This might not always be the case, but for the most part it is.

The world needs to see stability and faithfulness in us. When we talk negatively about our church to unsaved people, all they see is Christians are messed up. Don’t give God a bad name by your unfaithfulness and negative talk. You represent Him. We should take ever effort to get along with God’s children no matter what the circumstance is.

A faithful person arrives at their commitments early or at least on time. A foolish person is constantly late. It doesn’t matter what the other co-workers are doing. Their bad behavior should never dictate bad behavior in you.

A faithful person is someone we can depend on – someone who shows up where they say they will be at the time they say they will be there, someone whom you can count on to do something they say they will do for you. Be a faithful person!

Too often we start out to do the right thing and then when we don’t get the right response we change and backtrack and do something else.

Again, what the world needs to see from Christians is stability. Not an ever-changing temperament, but stability.

We don’t do what is right based on the reward we are getting, we do what’s right because it is right. The reward will eventually come but we don’t know when.

Galatians 6:9 KJV

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

It is not easy doing the right thing all the time, but God’s word tells us we shall reap a reward if we don’t give up. I like how the Amplified Bible states this verse:

Galatians 6:9 Amplified Bible

“And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.”

Each of us can put up with a lot of things, but there is a point in all of us that says enough is enough. I wonder if that is what God wants? God is not late, but he is never in a hurry either. We need to keep on keeping on. Even when you are not getting the result you would like to have yet, it’s very important to keep doing what you know to do.

You see what happens to us when we get discouraged and downtrodden is we stop doing everything that is right and we lose a lot of ground. God doesn’t want us to do that. He wants us to hold steady in the storm, in those times of discouragement.

Faithfulness is a wonderful thing

God doesn’t require as much out of us as we think He does sometimes, but He does require us to be faithful. To be faithful means to do your very best to behave the way you think God wants you too. What you know is right you do it! The Bible says that if you know what is right and you do it not, it is sin.

It is better to do the right thing then to do the wrong thing. The Bible even says, “Where have faithful men gone?” We live in a society that faithfulness is not a great trait.

My husband is a faithful man. We have been married for over 28 years now and he has been stable and faithful as a husband, father, and employee. He has worked at the same job for over 20 years. I admire his stability and faithfulness. His stability helps me to do what I do as a Pastor.

Your faithfulness and stability benefits others. It helps build the Kingdom of God. It brings security in the hearts who are close to you. They know they can count on you to be where you say you will be, and do what you say you will do.

God never gives up on us, and we should never give up. We especially shouldn’t be the kind of people that gives up on something because it is hard. If God’s anointing and blessing lifts off something because He is finished with it, that is the time to stop doing it – but not before.

We don’t need to be wimpy, and weak, and pitiful, and pathetic. We are anointed with the Holy Ghost and power. We don’t have that power to be quitters. We don’t have that power to have a pity party every other day. Stop sitting around wasting your day feeling sorry for yourself because you didn’t get what you wanted. We are anointed for hard things. God has anointed us to go through difficult things with a degree of ease. It may not be easy to go through it but you still can glide through it because God is on your side.

You need to stop telling God you just can’t take what is going on in your life one more day because the truth is you can take it just as long as you need to take it. God has promised you won’t have it any longer then you can take it. Amen!

Be not weary in well doing for in due season you shall reap if you faint not.

God is the author and the finisher of our faith. He doesn’t start things and not finish them. He always finishes what He starts. He that has begone a good work in you will bring it to its finish. That is why we need to finish what we start. That’s part of faithfulness. Don’t just start things and not complete it.

It doesn’t take a great deal of character to start things. Anybody can start something because with something new you have a lot of emotion. You haven’t had any of the problems yet you will have when you finish it. A lot of times people are clapping and cheering for you, Yea! Yea! Yea! Go! Go! But when they all go away and there is nothing left but you and hard work, and sometimes judgement and criticism and people laughing at you and making fun of you and even telling you to give up. That’s when we really find out who has it and who doesn’t.

Faithful in the Dictionary means: “Firm in adherence to the truth and to the duties of religion. Firmly adhering to duty, loyal, constant in the performance of duties or services; exact in attending to commands; as a faithful servant.” 

The last part of the definition means to be exact in attending to what an authority gives us to do. In other words, when a boss, a pastor, parents, a husband or other authority gives us an instruction, as a faithful person we are to do exactly what we have been asked to do.

Some people do a little of what they are asked to do and a little bit of what they want to do thinking it is okay. It is not okay. Do exactly what you have been asked to do by the authority and God sees and will repay. You might say, Pastor Kris my boss is mean and no one likes them. Why should I do anything they ask? Because you are being paid to do what they ask you to do that’s why. Do it unto God if you can’t think of a better reason. Do it to please God. God keeps the books. He knows what is in your heart and the heart of the authority figure in your life. If there is injustice, God will vindicate you in due time. Just keep on keeping on.

It is important for the tendency among many Christians who haven’t developed the fruit of faithfulness to get back to being faithful in everything they do. For some people, simply doing what they tell people they are going to do, no matter how they feel, would be great progress.

If you want to be used by God, or if you are being used by God and want to be used by God in a greater way, then always remember this: God only promotes faithful men and women. God promotes those who have proven themselves to be faithful. Then, when you prove yourself to be faithful in one area or level, God will promote you to another level.

Don’t expect to be promoted if you are unfaithful. Don’t expect to be promoted if you do what you want to do and not what you committed to do. Bosses, Pastors, Authority figures are looking for faithful people. You might say I have been faithful for years and nothing has happened. Don’t give up doing what is right! Your reward is coming. Most importantly tell yourself, “If I am never promoted, if I have to do this for the rest of my life, I will God if you want me to do it.” I have said those words in my past and shortly after I found myself promoted to a higher level. At the time my heart was speaking truth. I really would stay and do what I was doing, even though it was hard on me. But when I changed my attitude, and did it unto God and not man, it helped me to endure and be faithful.

Faithfulness! You have to make some decisions. Something needs to happen in your heart. I want you to decide you will go deeper with God so you can go higher in God. I want you to decide this wishy washy, up and down, somedays you go to church and somedays you don’t. Sometimes you give, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you get up and pray and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you study and sometimes you don’t. Make your mind up that you know is right. What God has spoken to you. what you have read in the word of God. Things you have agreed to in your heart and started out and then it got a little uncomfortable or it wasn’t making you feel real good then you back up. Don’t spend all your life in this same little place. Some of you have been doing this for 25 years already. Let’s make a little progress. At least make it a little farther then before. Amen!

You know what faithfulness is? Faithfulness means that you know what God is telling you to do and you do it over and over and over again. When we do the right thing, we will get a reward. That’s not a good reason to do the right thing. The reason is to be obedient to God and the blessing is a by-product.

Our motives are very important. We should never give someone a gift to get a gift. We can’t do what’s right to get somebody else to do what’s right. We have to do what’s right because it is the right thing to do. And we are not going to do it once, or five times, or ten times, but we are going to do it until the day we die. Irregardless of what we get, we are determined to be what we are; obedient to Christ.

It’s not what we do once that brings victory in our lives. It’s what we do over and over and over again. You didn’t do one wrong thing and get in a mess. You practiced it over and over and over again. How many times have you said something negative and now has turned into a mess in your life? You said it over and over and over again, and now you want to make a couple of good confessions and get mad at God because its not all straightened out. It’s not what we do right one time. It’s what we get revelation on and we do what we know God wants us to do because we know He wants us to do it. It’s doing the right thing over and over and over again.

Being faithful is obeying the laws and rules of the land. It is obeying even when no one else is looking.

We have to stop doing things in a way of controlling God. Yes we reap what we sow. But the Bible doesn’t tell us when. In due time. At the appointed time. In God’s time. But none of that tells us anything. It is when God knows you are ready. Not when we think we are ready.

So what about you? May be today you don’t have any joy and it might be because you haven’t been faithful. Each person will give an account of themselves.

Think of a couple of areas in your life to come up higher. Today make a decision to be a faithful person. You know what it is like to have a faithful person in your life. You like it. Be that for yourself and others.

Be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Don’t be a quitter. Even if you don’t get one thing you want you will still be faithful to God.

The fruit of faithfulness is a beautiful fruit. Be a faithful friend. Be faithful to your job. If you leave your job in a bad way, you will enter a new place the same way. If you leave with compromise, you will enter as a compromiser.

Be a faithful person. Sheep Christians and Goat Christians. Sheep go Baaaaa (yes master, no master) and goats go But, But, But! Be a sheep Christian and say yes to faithfulness.

Let’s remember:

Galatians 6:9 Amplified Bible

“And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.”

From one faithful person to another,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

(Some of the material used in this post was adapted from Joyce Meyer’s “Fruit of the Spirit – Faithfulness” audio CD.)

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Fruit of the Spirit – Goodness

GoodnessGal. 5:22 NKJV

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Goodness. What is goodness? It is more then being good.  Goodness in the Dictionary means: “Morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree: of high quality; excellent, right; proper, and well-behaved.”

Do you know of any good people? Are you a good person?

The Greek meaning for goodness is: “Uprightness of heart and life, goodness, kindness.” (Thayer Greek Definitions)

Goodness is the action that kindness brings. Goodness is what God is. God is Good: All the time and All the time: God is good. I say this a lot during my sermons and everyday life. But the reality is so true. God can’t be anything else but good. Because He is good, he is waiting and looking for people to be good too.

Isaiah 30:18a Amplified Bible

“And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you.”

Being gracious is being good. This is what God is constantly doing everyday. Isaiah 30 verse 18 goes on to say:

Isaiah 30:18b Amplified Bible

“For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless unbroken companionship]!”

This scripture says that God is waiting to be good to somebody who is waiting for God to be good to them. What are you looking for in your life? What are you waiting for? What are you expecting? Are you expecting nothing? Are you expecting trouble, bad news or just “whatever”? If you are expecting “whatever” you will get it – whatever, instead of specifically what you are needing or desiring.

Now that we have established that God is good and that He is looking for people who are expecting good things, we need to learn to be good to people, no matter how difficult it may seem at the time, it is a basic requirement of experiencing God’s goodness.

Have you ever noticed how excited we are about someone being good to us? We may say, “They are such a good person.” Or, “He or she is so good to me.” We will talk about it to others for hours. But when it comes to being good to someone else, we’re not nearly as interested. It’s time to get our minds off ourselves and say, “From now on, God, every day I’m going to be good to someone. In fact, every day, all day, we need to be good to all people.

If you think about it, there are numerous ways to be good to people. People are starving for somebody – anybody – to show them the love of God. Demonstrating love starts with a simple act of goodness. To display God’s character, you must make a choice to be good to people.

Start by asking God to develop the fruit of goodness inside of you. Ask God to put opportunities in your path that allow you daily to demonstrate goodness to someone. Ask God to display His character through you. To make someone feel better, give someone joy, make someone happy. Ask God to use you as an instrument to bless someone. You’ll be amazed at how your life will change by simply getting your mind off yourself, your problem, your wants and your needs. Leave your list of “I wants” in God’s hands. Instead, concentrate on being a blessing wherever you go. You’ll be surprised at how many of the “I wants” on your list will be taken care of because of your goodness to others.

Let’s get back to basics again. God is good all the time and here is a verse that proclaims this:

Psalms 31:19 Amplified Bible

“Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear, revere, and worship You, goodness which You have wrought for those who trust and take refuge in You before the sons of men!”

This verse tells us that God’s goodness is laid up for those who fear, revere, and worship Him, trust, and take refuge in Him before the sons of men. That says to me that if I will not be a closet Christian, but be open and live my christianity before the sons of men, God will store up His goodness for me.

There are a number of people today who profess to be Christians but don’t want to admit it or live it outside of their Christian circle. They’re Sunday morning Christians, but on Monday morning you can’t tell any difference between them and those who never claimed to be a Christian.

We need to take a stand for God. But, many of us choose fear instead. We’re afraid of being rejected, or isolated or laughed at, we’re afraid to take a stand and say, “I really don’t want to hear a dirty joke. I’m a Christian and I don’t want to hear any filthy language. I’m not really interested in going to an R-rated movie, or hitting the bars after work. That’s not what I’m about. My life and my relationship with God are too important to me.” That is what the Scripture means when it says,… those who trust and take refuge in You before the sons of men!

This eliminates lukewarm, compromising Christianity. Hearing about the fruit of the Spirit, specifically goodness, will not do you any good unless you’re ready to take a full, 100% stand for Christ.

It is no accident that you are living at this time in church history. I firmly believe that God hand selected those He wanted living during the time when Jesus will return. I do not take lightly the responsibility that God has given me. With opportunity comes responsibility. It’s time to stop compromising. It is time to stop giving excuses. It is time to stand for Christ and live out our Christian walk and not be ashamed.

Psalm 23:6 NKJV

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

Only goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life. Only! Nothing bad, nothing negative. Only goodness and mercy. Goodness and mercy follow you everywhere you go. I like how the message Bible states this verse:

Psalm 23:6a Message

“Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life…” 

God’s goodness is more then we think it is. The Shepherd knows what the sheep needs at different times of the year.

Psalm 65:11 NKJV

“You crown the year with your goodness and your paths drip with abundance.”

We can see an insight of what exactly God’s goodness is in Exodus 33:18 – 23.

Exodus 33:18 – 19 Amplified Bible

“And Moses said, I beseech You, show me Your glory. And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, The Lord, before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy and loving-kindness on whom I will show mercy and loving-kindness.”

Moses asked to see God’s glory. God said he will make all His goodness pass before him. God’s glory is His goodness. That is such an awesome thought that Moses saw all of God’s goodness pass before him.

God’s goodness, His glory, goes before us. When we show goodness we literally are showing God’s glory. We shine when we are good. Now, when you read verses about Goodness, it has a whole different light to it.

Going back to Psalm 65:11, “You crown the year with your goodness and your paths drip with abundance.” Now we see that God crowns each year with His glory, His goodness, and our path, our steps, will drip, overflow, with abundance. This sounds like goodness and mercy, beauty and love, shall follow me, chase after me all the days of my life.

When we show goodness, we show God’s glory, because God is good. The devil has no good in him. He can’t even try and muster up a single ounce of goodness. Only a good God can bring good. We are being like Him when we show goodness. See how we shine for His glory when we display goodness to others?

God is good! This is what God said about Himself concerning Who He is when He passeed by Moses: “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6)

We need to believe, really believe in the goodness of God. Perhaps your belief in God’s goodness is something that you’ve let slide to a back burner. God wants you to start expecting good things from a good God again!

If you don’t believe in something good, you will have a sour life. And sour people turn everything around them sour. I don’t want to be around sour people who do nothing but complain about their problems. I want to hear what God can do, what God has done. I want to hear your expectations for what God will do in your life.

Are you expecting something good to happen to you?

Psalm 27:13 Amplified Bible

“[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness, not in heaven, but in the land of the living!”

David said, “What in the world would have happened to me? What kind of condition would I be in? What pit would I be in had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness, not in heaven, but int he land of the living.”

Just because something happens that appears to be a dead end to you, doesn’t mean it is a dead end.

If God closes a door, He opens a window. If Satan seals up every door and every window, God will yank the roof off. We serve a God Who makes a way where there doesn’t seem to be a way.

God is the Waymaker. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He is tenacious. He never gives up to fulfill His goodness towards His people.

Psalm 27:14 Amplified Bible

“Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.”

You will experience God’s goodness not just when we get to heaven, but in the here and now, in the ordinary activities of your life. No matter what you are going through put your hope in God’s goodness and expect Him to move in your situation.

Psalm 37:3 NLT

“Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.”

Trust God and do good. Don’t give up doing good, you will receive a reward.

Galatians 6:9 NIV

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

There will be times we want to give up. You might be experiencing hard times right now. You may be believing for a breakthrough. Don’t be discouraged. God’s going to come through for you.

Galatians 6:10 Amplified Bible

“So then, as occasion and opportunity open up to us, let us do good [morally] to all people [not only being useful or profitable to them, but also doing what is for their spiritual good and advantage]. Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith [those who belong to God’s family with you, the believers].”

Each time you have an opportunity, be good to somebody. Don’t let one occasion pass you by to be good to somebody that you don’t jump in there and take advantage of that opportunity. If you want to be good to somebody, all you’ve got to do is listen to them.

Forgiving someone is being good to them, and yourself. Forgive people when they don’t deserve it. Before someone stops offending you, you can forgive them. Love believes the best. Maybe they didn’t mean to hurt you.

God is good… All the time, now you are going to be good… all the time

Kindness is the attitude we have towards people at being willing to forgive them and not be hard on them. Goodness is the action we take to actually be a blessing in their life.

Remember whenever you are good to someone you shine God’s glory everywhere you go. This takes the pride out of us. We realize we are doing it for God and not our own glory. Shine for the King wherever you go by being good to others.

Your sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.HopeFellowshipSpokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Fruit of the Spirit – Kindness

KindnessGal. 5:22 NKJV

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

“Kind” in the Dictionary means: “Of a friendly, generous, or warm-hearted nature, showing sympathy or understanding; charitable, humane; considerate, forbearing; tolerant, generous; liberal, agreeable; beneficial.”

Kindness is the quality of being kind. Kindness is being friendly and warm-hearted. It is truly caring about others. It is treating fellow human beings with respect and being beneficial or an asset in someone’s life.

~Pastor Kris Belfils

Kindness goes a long way! People respond positively to kindness. You will win people over with kindness. Love and kindness always go together. Love and Kindness is the opposite of selfishness.

Jesus was motivated by love and kindness. He had compassion on people and moved to heal them. Jesus always receives us and he never rejects us. This character trait is something we need to have in our life. When we show kindness people see we are real and approachable.

Kindness builds the Kingdom of God. Our job is not to be in the demolition business. Our job is encouraging and building up others. What good is there in knocking others down with our words or actions? Absolutely nothing! Knocking someone down, even if they truly did something wrong to us, shows how possibly unstable, selfish, and immature we are as Christians. Showing love and kindness brings healing and reconciliation. Showing love and kindness is doing what Jesus did.

What takes away our kindness

1.  Being mean, grouchy, and uncaring. 

Maybe you are a nice kind person with a gentle sweet personality and being kind comes natural. But most of the world is not that way. We can change.

Proverbs 12:10 CEV

“Good people are kind to their animals, but a mean person is cruel.”

Proverbs 14:14 Message

“A mean person gets paid back in meanness, a gracious person in grace.”

Proverbs 11:17 NIRV

“A kind man benefits himself. But a mean person brings trouble on himself.”

Just being too tired can make you mean, grouchy, and uncaring. Take the time to take care of yourself. Make sure you get the right amount of sleep each night. Don’t stay up late the night before something important, especially if it is a Saturday night and you have church the next day. Be kind to your pastor and go to bed at a decent hour so you are ready for church in the morning.

Sometimes it is someone’s demeanor to always be mean. If you are a mean person, you can change.

We can change because God has equipped us in our inner man to change.

Every time you walk in one of the fruit of the Spirit and you do it, you become stronger in that area and it becomes easier to do the next time.

We don’t have to stay angry and mean. Choose to be kind. Allow God to help change you from the inside out.

2.  Being too busy.

Philippians 2:21 (NET) New English Translation

“For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.”

Seeking our own is being too busy for others and only caring about yourself. This is not how Jesus acted. What if Jesus was too busy to be kind to you?

When we are too busy we don’t have time to be kind to others. We need to tell ourselves to relax and enjoy the journey. Far too often people are in a hurry to be or get somewhere in life. More so I am talking about a career or advancement. Striving for more can exclude others. What good is it to advance if you have no one there to share it with? Your job, career, ministry, and life are not as important as being kind to others.

People are God’s priority. What is yours? We can put things or opportunity above being kind and good to others and it only makes you look selfish and mean.

Check your priorities, and check them often. If you are too busy to help others you have your priorities in the wrong place. When we put God first, all other priorities fall into place.

If you focus on getting what you want, it will just make you more selfish. But if you focus on God and the fruit of the spirit, then that is what will be developed in your life.

3.  Being unforgiving

Holding onto a grudge or not forgiving others immediately takes away your kindness. It is hard to be kind to someone who has hurt you. Interestingly this is what the Bible calls us to do.

Matthew 5:44 NIRV

“But here is what I tell you. Love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you.”

Pray for those who hurt me? OUCH! This seems totally opposite of how we feel. God knows what it will take to overcome the hurt and bring healing. We are asked to pray for those we are offended with. It is hard. But there is a reason why God requires this. It is because it changes our perspective towards the offender. Our view on them after the offense is negative and uncaring. When we pray for people who have hurt us our view point changes towards them. We start to have compassion for them. This is kingdom living.

God has changed me and I am not the person I use to be. In my old condition, there was not room for the fruit of the Spirit to truly manifest. Now, allowing God to change and heal me of my past, there is a healthier tree to produce healthier fruit. I have learned to abide in the vine! This is what we all need to do. We can’t bear fruit on our own, only by abiding in Jesus will we produce much fruit.

John 14:11 NKJV

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Looks to me like we are pruned if we don’t abide, and pruned if we do. I would rather be pruned to bear more fruit then to be cut off and discarded because I chose to not abide.

2 Peter 1:7 – 8 NKJV

“…to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is a command for us to have brotherly kindness and to add to that, love. This helps us to forgive those who have wronged us.

We add these virtues not only for ourselves, but for others. Our lives affect many. What fruit are you producing that others can pick?

It is easy to get selfish and uncaring about others. It is hard to live in this selfish world and not have it affect us. That is why we have to put on faith and love and to be kind to one another.

How we should live

1 Thess. 5:8 Amplified Bible

“But we belong to the day; therefore, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

Again, we are to put on faith and love. We are to put on salvation like a helmet. This protects and surrounds us and our thinking.

Did you know kindness protects and supports our life?

Proverbs 20:28 CEB

“Kindness and faithfulness protect the king; he supports his throne by kindness.” 

This shows that if we allow kindness and faithfulness into our lives we will be protected and supported. It is a good foundation to stand on instead of building on a weak foundation of sandy efforts, works, and manipulation.

How can kindness support us? Let us go back to the definition of the word “Kind”: “Of a friendly, generous, or warm-hearted nature, showing sympathy or understanding; charitable, humane; considerate, forbearing; tolerant, generous; liberal, agreeable; beneficial.”

We are fortified when we are friendly and generous. When we are approachable instead of being an island unto ourselves. People will be strengthened around you and feel secure.

Don’t pressure people when they do wrong. Yes, we are to correct if need be, but never make the other feel they blew it and there is no hope. Kindness is how we want to be treated (Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you Matthew 7:12), and kindness is how we should live.

We purpose to wear kindness and to give out that fruit daily. We have enough of it because it is growing and manifesting in us new everyday.

Listen to people. Hear about their life. Don’t be so quick to interrupt and share your needs or something about yourself. People want to know you care about them. Listening is showing kindness. Listening goes a long way.

1 Thess. 5:14 Amplified Bible

“And we earnestly beseech you, brethren, admonish (warn and seriously advise) those who are out of line [the loafers, the disorderly, and the unruly]; encourage the timid and fainthearted, help and give your support to the weak souls, [and] be very patient with everybody [always keeping your temper].”

Kindness costs us something. It costs us our flesh. We die to what we might want to say and change it to be what God wants us to say. We realize what we are thinking will possibly hurt or hinder someone and let it go, and in turn, we say things that will build up. This is kindness.

1 Thess. 5:15 Amplified Bible

“See that none of you repays another with evil for evil, but always aim to show kindness and seek to do good to one another and to everybody.”

The Apostle Paul, the writer of Thessalonians, wanted you to have the very best life that you can have. There are a lot of people who don’t know Christ so get over yourself and let your action and attitudes do the preaching.

This is a way to have a great life. show love, be at peace, show patience, show kindness, and seek to do good, and thank God in everything. No matter the circumstances.

We all have problems and we can react or act badly towards others because of them. Your problem that you think is the worse thing in the whole world, is not your problem, your problem is probably the way you are acting because of your problem.

Mercy is kindness and kindness is mercy. Mercy is a beautiful thing. Become nicer. Don’t be a mean Christian. MAKE A PLAN TO GO OUT AND BEHAVE YOURSELF.

Aim to show kindness and seek to do good! Powerful words to live by. This is how we should live everyday.

From one kind hearted person to another,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Fruit of the Spirit – Patience

PatienceGal. 5:22 Amplified Bible

“But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].”

Patience is one of the most challenging things, especially to certain personality types. If you are a quick person, this fruit is a challenge.

One definition of “patience” is long-suffering with mildness, gentleness, and moderation. The best definition of “patience” I think is: To be constant or to be the same all the time, no matter what is going on. This should be our goal as believers.

Patience is not an ability to wait. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit that manifests while we are waiting. If patience doesn’t manifest in times of waiting, then we see the fruit of impatience during those times. We all have patience inside of us. What prevents it from coming out is being impatient.

Let’s talk about being impatient first.

“Impatience” is: “lack of patience; intolerance of or irritability with anything that impedes or delays, restless desire for change and excitement” (Collins English Dictionary).

Some phrases for the word “impatience” are: “Champ or Chomp at the bit.” This means like a horse, they chew on their bits when they are eager to move or go and are impatient at waiting. Another phrase: “Bite the bridle” or “strain at the leash.” all mean the same thing as “Chomp at the bit” but in addition they stamp the ground with their hooves to get going.

Have you ever done this? You get impatient and eager to do something. You get upset and stomp your foot or bang your hand on your steering wheel while driving behind a slow driver.

Usually impatience comes because of a time constraint. We are pressed for time, running late, or need to get somewhere fast. The harder you try to move faster, often, the more impatient you become because it is making things worse.

I was leaving the Baltimore Airport to head back to Washington state. We already arrived at the airport late and there was a long line for checkin. By the time we checked in our luggage, and walked through the security, it looked like we had ten minutes left to get to our gate. We ran and got to the gate before the plane was scheduled to leave but they had already given our seats away to “stand by” passengers. We missed out flight. I had to resolve how I was feeling, impatient, and reconcile the fact that we missed our plane and had to wait stand by for the next flight that wouldn’t leave for another few hours. When that flight came, there was no room and we were bummed to another flight but were confirmed seats on that flight. It was nine or ten hours later from the original flight to the one we finally boarded. Impatience didn’t get us to the plane on time. It only caused me to stress out.

How about the phrase: “Cool ones heels” or “Cool your jets!” Both mean to stop and cool off and slow down and stop being impatient.

I am sure you heard the phrase: “Haste makes waste.” Which means you do not save any time by working too fast; hurrying will cause you to make mistakes, and you will have to take extra time to do the job over again.

All of these phrases have to do with being impatient and in a hurry. This is what society thinks gets the job done.

With me, when I was younger, I was extremely impatient. Not wanting to wait for things. I remember not wanting to go to school because of something that was going to happen that day and I would choose to stay home. I didn’t want to endure the day. It seemed overwhelming to me to walk through a few hours of being uncomfortable. I hated to wait. Wait was a four letter word to me. You might as well of told me to not breathe because that is how I felt when I had to walk through something I didn’t want to be in. I would quit jobs just because I didn’t like the environment and had to wait eight hours before I could be free and away from the uncomfortableness.

God dealt with me in many ways to burn out my impatient spirit. I wrote an article entitled; “Endure or Bolt?” This came after a time in my life when I always bolted instead of staying and enduring a circumstance. I think my nature of wanting to always leave started as a little girl. My Single mom moved us from one house to another trying to make ends meet. I don’t know what she was searching for, but she took all of us kids along in her bolting. She would get impatient and upset over something and the next thing I knew we were moving to another place to live, and another city to get use to.

It doesn’t matter why you are impatient. What matters is how you deal with it. Impatience is a counterfeit fruit. It can look like it is productive, but in reality, it only produces stress and turmoil for you and others. Impatience is very selfish. It only cares about itself.

We get impatient with people because they are not working as fast as we would like. How about a cashier at a store. You get in line and see that your line is going no where all because of the store clerk who is slow. What is your reaction? Do you vocally say something out loud for them and others to hear of how frustrated you are? Do you look for another line that is moving faster and move over to that line? Both reactions are signs of being impatient.

What are you believing God for? When you don’t see the answer to what you asked God for do you get depressed, sad, discouraged, negative, grumble, and complain all the time you are waiting?

When we reach the point where we don’t need to have things done our way and in our timing, that’s when God will give them to us. Remember, Patience is not waiting. It is how we act while we’re waiting.

“Patience” in the Greek means: “cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: – enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).” (Strongs Hebrew and Greek Definitions)

It is hard to imagine having a cheerful hopeful endurance in the middle of waiting, but this is what this fruit produces.

We need to develop this fruit of the Spirit called patience in our life and just say, “Lord, I’m going to trust You. If it takes longer than I’d like, then You must know something that I don’t know.”

Luke 21:19 KJV

“In Your patience possess ye your souls.”

Your soul is your mind, your will and your emotions. It is that personality part of you – your thought life and your feelings. If you don’t learn to posses your own soul, or to control that soulish life through developing the fruit of the Spirit, then it will possess and control you. Be patient because in patience you possess your soul.

James 1:4 Amplified Bible

“But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.”

We should rejoice in difficult situations, knowing that through them God tests our faith to bring out patience. Trials do eventually produce patience, but first they bring all kinds of junk to the surface such as pride, anger, rebellion, self-pity, and complaining. We need to face and deal with these ungodly traits before patience can come forth.

If you become desperate enough for some joy and peace, you’ll start developing patience.

God moves two different ways – Quickly and suddenly; slowly and little by little. First, He always moves slowly, little by little, so slowly that you think it is never going to happen, and it’s all you can do every day of your life to not give up.

Then suddenly God moves, and your breakthrough comes. You don’t know how; you don’t understand it, but it’s just like, “That must have been God,” because you’ve done everything that anybody could do forty-five times over and none of it worked. Finally, when you’re done, God says, “Okay, now that you’ve finally let go, I will take care of you.”

Waiting destroys pride. If God gave us everything the minute we wanted it, we would be so proud and haughty, we’d think it was us.

For example, if we pray and God gives us what I want right away, sometimes we begin to think, “Boy, my prayers are powerful. I must really be living a holy life. I’m a righteous person.”

That is a very wrong attitude to have. God’s goodness is not based on our goodness. God’s goodness should only provoke praise and thanksgiving, not proud thoughts of how good we think we are.

God makes us wait because He is testing us. He told the Israelites, “I led you these forty years in the wilderness to test you and to prove you to see if  you would keep My commandments or not.

It’s one thing to keep the commandments of God when we’re getting everything we want. It’s another thing to keep the commandments of God when we’re not getting much of what we want. It’s one thing to be nice to somebody when they’re being nice to you. It’s another thing entirely to operate in the fruit of the Spirit when they’re not being so nice to you.

Colossians 3:12 NASB tells us to put on patience. That tells me that patience is something that I have to do on purpose. Just because I don’t feel patient doesn’t mean I impatient. We must put on patience.

The Amplified Bible states in Colossians 3:12 to “Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones…” Again, patience is something we put on. We can’t expect our clothes to come on our bodies all by themselves. We have to put them on. Likewise, it is the same with patience. We have to choose, to purpose to walk with patience everyday.

Colossians 3:12, in the Amplified Bible continues, “Putting on… patience… [which is tireless and longsuffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper.” One of the greatest ways to show love to other people is by being patient with them. That doesn’t mean we don’t deal with issues or become a doormat for everyone to walk all over us all the time.

When we begin to recognize a wrong behavior in someone, it is often God trying to lead us to pray for them. If we pray first, that opens the door for God to deal with them. Then He can prepare their heart for any future action He might ask us to take.

We try so hard to make things happen, and we get so impatient and so frustrated we don’t realize that if we pray, God has a plan. His plan may not always be our plan, but we’ve got to get sensitive and listen to God about what He wants us to deal with and what He doesn’t.

So when I say be patient, I don’t mean never deal with anything, I mean to be patient enough to deal with things in God’s timing and not our own timing.

BE PATIENT

-Be patient with people’s opinions.

-Be patient with people’s personalities. We have people in our lives who have personalities that are harder for us to handle. That’s an opportunity to exercise the fruit of patience.

-Be patient when someone tells you a story for the third time, even though you mentioned in the beginning, “Yes, you told me that last week.”

-Be patient when someone wants to tell you every minor detail of a story that you’re not even interested in hearing.

-Be patient when people interrupt you when you don’t want to be interrupted.

-Be patient with people when they call you at 6:00 a.m.

-Be patient when people goof around and act silly while you’re trying to be serious.

-Be patient when you’re sick and going through a really rough time and people seem to be clueless concerning your needs.

-Be patient when people push in front of you in line or take a parking space you’ve been waiting for.

-Be patient when a department store heavily advertises a certain item on sale, and when you get there, they’re all on back order.

-Be patient with a clerk when you have to return an item two times because it fell apart both times you took it home.

-Be patient when you have an agenda and someone comes and interrupts you with something that seems less important.

Allow the fruit of patience to develop in you by choosing to wear it daily. Life is NOT all about you. People have been patient with you, it is your turn to be patient with them.

Watch this video of preschoolers who were given a marshmallow and see if they have the patience to wait and get another one! Video: Marshmallow test

Galatians 6:9 NKJV

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

Your sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Fruit of the Spirit – Peace

Fruit of the spirit - Peace (blank)Gal. 5:22 NKJV

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

In this message we are going to look at the fruit of peace in our life. In today’s world, it is easy to not have peace. We can be in turmoil over so many things: Economy, our health, finances, people, jobs, family, church, relationships, and so much more.

The devil wants us to lose our peace and be in turmoil all the time. We have to fight for our peace. God wants us to be in His perfect peace 24/7.

Isaiah 26:3 Amplified Bible

“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

The past few weeks God has been placing things in my path that either I can get upset about, and lose my peace, or I can react or deal with the situations in a calm manner and not lose my peace.

I was at the airport heading leaving for a speaking engagement. We arrived thinking we had a lot of time, but there was an extremely long line to check in and we had to weigh and check in our luggage. Even then, we needed to get into another long line to have our carryon bags x-rayed. Often I travel with my guitar equipment of cables, peddles, and my wireless microphone. I made the mistake of placing all that in one of the carryon bags. We were running late already, and they had to take the carryon with all my equipment and physically look it over, check for bomb residue, and re-Xray it again. I wish I could say I had peace and reacted well, but I was frustrated and edgy. I lost my peace until we finally got to the gate to wait to board our plane.

Many times on my trip it seemed an over abundance of circumstances would come up for me to get possibly get upset and lose my peace. Time and again, I would say out loud, “I will not lose my peace over this!” and would choose to relax instead of being in turmoil. I chose to keep my mind on the good instead of the bad when it was happening.

We have a choice to acquire peace and remain in it. Peace is one of the Fruit of the Spirit. It is already in us when we asked Jesus Christ into our hearts as our personal Lord and Savior. We need to allow the Fruit of the Spirit to develop in us daily.

It is not our circumstances that upset us, it is how we respond to them that can bring strife. We have to respond in the proper way. Let’s look at Isaiah again to get a better insight as to what to do to keep our peace.

Isaiah 26:3 Amplified Bible

“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

One morning I woke up with this verse being spoken in my ear. I knew immediately God was speaking to me that I am losing my own peace just because I didn’t keep my mind and thoughts on Him. I started to think of the last few days of how stressed I was and I realized it was my fault because I allowed my mind to turn from God and onto my circumstances and I started to worry. Throughout the day I noticed how my thoughts would bring me to turmoil and I would have no peace, but this time, I was reminded of this verse God whispered in my ear that morning and it helped me to hold my peace instead of losing it.

We can live in perfect peace

Taking Isaiah 26:3 and breaking it down, we can learn a lot about how to live in perfect peace.

1.  Keep your mind stayed on God

a. How we think

We can put ourselves in turmoil just by the way we think. We have peace and then something comes up, either a circumstance or a thought in our mind, and we turn our focus totally on it instead of who God is in the situation.

Circumstances come and go, but God, and His faithfulness and goodness remains. We can choose to react in peace or turmoil.

There are times I have to say out loud about a thought; “That is not true!” or “That is a lie!” I would find that if I immediately say the opposite of what I am thinking in a Godly perspective, the thought had no power. “God has a plan and He is taking care of this!” “I can trust You Lord that you will provide.” “I leave this in Your hands God and believe good things will happen.”

How do you respond when things don’t go your way? Do you lose your peace over it? God wants us to have patience and self-control (I will be speaking on these fruit in the next few weeks). Far too often we lose our peace because we don’t control our reactions and we get all upset over something that we can’t change anyhow.

Worrying over something doesn’t bring change, it only loses our peace. I know because I have done this in my life, and still struggle in this area from time to time. A negative thought comes to your mind and you start to dwell on it and think about it and believe it will happen. Then you stress over it and talk about it to others.

b.  How we react

Our reaction to problems can bring strife and stress. Too often our reaction makes the problem worse. We can create a problem just by our reaction to circumstances. Choose your battles. When a situation comes up, think before you react or speak. Keep your big mouth shut! At least that is what I tell myself when I experience something that bothers me.

I was in Wal-Mart recently and my daughter and I were looking at and smelling the special lotions they had to possibly buy one. We were having a good time enjoying the smells when a Wal-Mart employee came up to us shaking her head and harshly said, “You can’t do that!” “You can’t smell the lotions because it might bother other customers.” I asked, “But how are we to know if we like one so we can buy it?” She said, “I think you can go to the pharmacy and they should have samples to smell.” Then she proceeded to explain in more and more detail why we were not allowed to smell the lotions. I could feel my flesh rising up within me and I wanted to tell her what I thought of her and her “policy.” I felt my peace leaving me, so instead of giving this clerk a piece of my mind, I chose to remain in my peace and said, “Okay, thank you.” and the clerk stopped talking and left. My daughter and I walked away and we talked about it. It was a good feeling to react in a peaceful way in front of her. I kept my peace and I taught by example how to react. If I reacted in the flesh, and allowed my emotions to run wild the Wal-Mart employee would have stayed with us and the situation would have gotten worse. I’ve seen people being escorted out of the store due to their bad behavior and I didn’t want that to be me. (What a thought of being kicked out of Wal-Mart of all stores!)

We can decide to change our behavior in a split second. We can choose our battles. We don’t have to react negatively to situations. Choose to keep your peace and keep your mind stayed on good things.

2.  Commit yourself to God

When we ask Christ into our hearts to forgive us of all the wrong that we have done, and to allow Him to have control, we have made a commitment. We are saying, “You have control of the steering wheel of my life now and I will follow and obey you.” It is a good thing to give God control. It brings peace. When we fight having our own way we will have turmoil.

Psalm 37:5 NLT

“Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.”

We show we commit ourselves to the Lord by saying, “I don’t understand all that I am going through right now, but I know You are with me, and You will give me wisdom and help when needed.” I might understand everything, and my questions might not be all answered, but in my heart I know God is for me and has a plan. I can trust God in all situations that He will work it out for my good because I am His and I have committed my life to Him.

Committing your life to God means that you will obey His Word and His promptings. Obedience brings blessing. In this case the blessing is peace of mind, heart, and spirit.

3.  Lean on God and hope confidently in Him

Proverbs 3:5 – 6 Amplified Bible

“Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.”

Trying to reason everything out will take your peace away. We will have unanswered questions. We need to be aware that trying to reason everything out by ourselves is a problem. It is a serious matter that we need to deal with, just as Jesus dealt with it in the hearts of those who followed Him. Ask God to help you stop reasoning and being to live by faith, leaning on and trusting in Him and not on your own understanding.

There is a place with God that we have to be like a little child. Children, who are raised in a secure environment, will feel safe and often don’t understand everything, yet they know their parents love them and are watching out for them. They trust their parents. They don’t have to figure everything out, that is the parents job. This is true with our Heavenly Father. He is the one who figures things out. In fact, He already has and knows what we need. Committing ourselves to God and confidently hoping in Him brings peace. It is a faith thing, not a fact thing. Facts may scream at you that there is no hope, but faith arises in us and shouts “With God all things are possible!”

Peace, when your in the Kingdom, is not the absence of conflict, rather its the assurance that in the midst of conflict, the father has things under control.

Stop trying to figure everything out.

There is nothing in the Bible that says we are suppose to know everything. The more we try to figure things out the more confused we can get.

Get comfortable with saying, “I don’t know.” I don’t know, and if God wants me to know He will tell me, and until then, it is enough that He knows.

All this said

Everyday the enemy works to steal our peace. Because when we lose our peace, we start getting into emotions, and then we start making bad decisions, and say things we shouldn’t say. Then it goes from bad to worse. Follow peace.

Peace should rule like an umpire.

Col. 3:15 Amplified Bible

“And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live].  And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].”

The umpire in a ball game decides if a player is “in” or “out.” Peace is to be the umpire that decides if something in your life should be in or out.

Let the peace of God rule like an umpire deciding with finality every question that arises. If any decision is not peaceful, chances are it is not God’s will.

1 Peter 3:10 – 11 Amplified Bible

“For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good – whether apparent or not] keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from guile (treachery, deceit). Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]”

Learn how to zip your lip. Don’t let every feeling you have fly out of your mouth. Self-control. No fruit of the spirit is called others-control. We can’t control others, only ourselves.

Search, seek for peace. Refuse to live without peace.

You want peace, but you have not done anything to get it. You blame your circumstances and people. Stop allowing this to happen. Remember it is a choice to be at peace.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be around somebody that every time things don’t go their way they get mad, or the only way they have a smile on their face is if things go their way. Selfishness is a peace robber.

Peace With Yourself

Another peace robber is the lack of peace with yourself.

A lot of the problems with people is that they just don’t like themselves. They have a private war going on within themselves everyday.

If you ever want to enjoy peace in life you have to have peace with God and peace with others and with yourself (1 Peter 3:11).

You don’t like this about you and you don’t like that about you. This is personal war within.

How can you have more peace with yourself?

-Don’t always take an inventory of everything that is wrong with you.

-Face your faults, but don’t focus on them. (even your own faults and failures will distract you from growing in God.) Learn to talk back to the devil. He talks to you.

-Stop comparing yourself with others.

-Stop putting your confidence in outward things. Position. Work. Family. The creator of the universe loves you! If people don’t like you, maybe they have the problem and not you. If they don’t like you they miss out on a great relationship.

-Stop letting other people run your life and start being lead by the Spirit. You will never have peace with your heart and be bold enough to be lead by the Holy Spirit.

-Listen to what God says about you in His Word and not what people say about you.

-Let go of the past and press towards the future.

You can’t be at peace with people until you are at peace with yourself. How can you get along with others if you don’t get along with you?

You can’t give away what we don’t have. Jesus was full of peace and could speak to the storm. You can’t speak peace to the storms in your life if you are filled with turmoil. When you have peace then you can bring peace to situations everywhere you go. There is no greater witness to your children then to be peaceful in circumstances that are not peaceful.

Do you live in turmoil, anxiety, or strife? Learn to cast your cares on God and let him take care of it.

You can be peaceful in situations where you have no reason to be peaceful. Where common sense says you should be upset. We can do this over and over in our life.

There is hope for everybody to have the fruit of the spirit manifest in our life.

The Holy Spirit wants to teach us a brand new way to live

Do you want peace in your life?

The world is hard and bad, and likely to get worse. It is not our circumstances that upset us, it is how to respond to them in the proper way.

Have a goal to be peaceful everyday, even when the enemy tries to upset you.

No Peace = No Power

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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Fruit of the Spirit – Joy

Joy

Gal. 5:22 Amplified Bible

“But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].”

What is joy and what is joy based on? Joy defined is: “A shout, a proclamation that can manifest in singing. Joy is defined as a triumph, cheerful and a calm delight.”

 Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Definitions: “G5463, A primary verb; to be full of “cheer”, that is, calmly happy or well off.”

Joy is deeper then happiness. Instead of looking to Jesus, people look for JOY anywhere and everywhere else.

Pretty much everybody wants happiness. In fact, people do what they do for the purpose of “finding happiness.” People work hard to buy possessions that can make them happy. They look for happiness in entertainment, hobbies, sports, passions and various addictions, and even another person.

When you consider that happiness seems to be the main goal, it seems surprising that the Bible doesn’t talk much about happiness. But the Bible says a lot about something that is often confused with happiness. The Bible says a lot about JOY. The kind of JOY the Bible talks about goes much deeper than mere happiness.

Happiness deals with what is happening. Happiness depends on circumstance. In fact, for most people happiness is nothing more than a temporary interruption to boredom. We’ve all heard kids complain, “I’m bored.” That means, “I want some happiness, and I’m NOT finding it!”

Genuine joy, on the other hand does not depend on what’s happening. Joy is an inner sense of well-being that has nothing to do with circumstance.  Joy is an inside Job.

The kind of JOY the Bible describes can’t be found in possessions or entertainment or even in looking deeply into your inner self.

 Happiness vs. Joy

Happiness meets surface needs, But Joy meets your deepest needs.

Happiness is like a thermometer, it registers conditions,

Joy is like a Thermostat, it regulates conditions.

Now happiness many times evaporates in suffering,

But Joy frequently intensifies in times of suffering.

Let me give you an example:

Turn with me to James 1:2

James 1:2 NKJV 

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”

In other words, when you are in trouble, don’t start crying when things happen, in stead count it as Joy.

The word translated “various” is the Greek word on which our word “polka dot” is based.

It means variegated or diversified. If you look at a dress or garment with lots of polka dots on it, it can be a reminder that we will experience many trials.

Joy is not the natural response to Trouble. How many of you jump and scream with excitement when trouble comes a-knockin’?

Let me tell you something, Trials are meaningless, suffering is senseless and trials are pointless, unless there is some good purpose for them.

God has a goal in mind. God knows what the good purpose is.

Suffering is inevitable. He does not say, “Count it all joy, my brethren, IF you fall into trials,” he says, “Count it all joy WHEN you fall into trials.

What does that mean?

~ It means Trials are not optional.

~ Suffering is a normal part of the process God uses to bring us to glory.

~We are to rule over the trial and not allow the trial to rule over us.

The word “count” in the Greek means: “to lead, that is, command (with official authority); figuratively to deem, that is, consider: – account, (be) chief, count, esteem, governor, judge, have the rule over, suppose, think.”

Far too often we allow the trial to rule over us and it defeats us. We are to count, rule over with authority, any trial that comes our way because we know:

James 1:3 – 4 Amplified Bible

“Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. [with no defects], lacking in nothing.”

God wants to produce patience (fruit of the spirit) and endurance in us. Don’t be a wimp and crumble under trials. Trials will come. But rule over it with joy knowing God is with you and has the answers when we ask for His wisdom.

James 1:5 Amplified Bible

“If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.”

This is how we are to respond in trials. Seek God for wisdom.

Often times we do quit the opposite. We try to acquire our happiness in false joy and end up giving up.

FALSE JOY

1.  Acquiring “things.”

I can have things and enjoy them, but if I don’t have them, I can still enjoy my life. We can desire things, but don’t lust after them. You can have things, but don’t allow things to have you. Lust steals your joy.

Hold everything loosely. Be a steward, not an owner. This is why giving our tithes and offerings are so important. If you can’t give it, then it has got you. That is why God will ask you to give up things that don’t make sense to you.

READ: 1 Tim. 6:6 – 12 

When we were born, we brought nothing into this world, and we can’t take anything out when we die.

My husband’s uncle passed away a few weeks ago. Ron and his brother and Mom and Dad went down to California to see after all the affairs and belongings his uncle had. His uncle had a passion for Nascar racing and throughout the years collected a huge miniature car collection. They lived in a double wide trailer and under the trailer was packed with this collection. They loaded a 20 foot U-Haul truck full of this collection and brought it up to Spokane to sale. It is amazing how we collect things, which brings us temporary happiness at the time, and end up not being able to take any of it with us when we die.

Things will not bring joy, it only brings momentary happiness at the time you purchase it and own it. I know of people who spend their time shopping and acquiring things to fill the void of not having joy.

Some people constantly are consumed with money. They want to get it, save it, or as soon as they get it, they want to spend it.

1 Timothy 6:10 NLT

“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”

Any addiction other then God will only bring you false joy. It is temporary and will never last.

God loves to bless His kids, but if you have to have it to be happy, it is wrong.

If you can’t get happy in the valley, you won’t be happy on the mountain top. We say things like… “If this would happen I would be happy!” or “If I had this it would make my life happy.” This is all false Joy. Again, things and possessions are temporary. God, and who He is in our life is permanent.

2.  Surroundings

Your joy shouldn’t be based on your surroundings. Our environment changes constantly. One day we have a job, and the next, it is taken from us. One day you have a beautiful home, and the next a tornado took it away. Our surroundings do not determine our true joy.

Isaiah 54:10 NASB

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the LORD who has compassion on you.”

Mountains have been shaken and removed, but the promises of God never were broken by any event.

We should be able to give it up and still be happy. Love God and enjoy things and your surroundings, but don’ ever let them get ahead of God.

Matthew Henry Commentary:  “Creature-confidences shall fail; but when our friends fail us, our God does not.” 

3.  Relationships

Basing your joy on people and what they do for you, or who they are in your life is false security. It is a false sense of happiness. It is not their job to keep you happy or content. We don’t want to be dependent on people but on God.

If we put all our hope in people, or a certain person, we will be disappointed. People will let us down. People are not perfect.

2 Timothy 4:16 – 17 ESV

“At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.”

If we feel we can’t live without a certain person, we have our dependence on them instead of God.

Emotional or Co-Dependency towards an individual is a trap. Yes, people are God’s gift to us, but not to the point they take the place of God in our lives. What I mean is if they are the first thing you think of in the morning and the last thing you think of at night, chances are you are emotionally dependent on them. If you feel like you can’t breathe if you don’t talk to them, you are emotional dependent. Relationships should be healthy.

It is easy to place a person above God. After all they are there in the flesh. But we have to be careful, especially if you are a person who emotionally gets attached to people quickly. God wants that place.

It is time to get happy. It is time to walk in God’s joy He has already given you. Allow this fruit to develop in your life. Don’t prematurely pick this fruit thinking it is ripe. We do this by basing our happiness on people, places, and things.

WHAT BRINGS TRUE JOY?

1.  Salvation

Receiving the salvation God, provided through His Son Jesus Christ, changes our lives forever. We don’t have to spend eternity in Hell where there is torment and constant burning of our flesh. We are free from any bondage sin had on us to live in this world with freedom and joy. We are never alone because God is always with us. We are His. All this should bring joy.

Psalm 51:10 – 12 NKJV

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away form Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” 

Jesus rescued us. No matter what happens in this world, and in our life, we know who we are and where we will spend eternity after we die. We have a reason to get up in the morning because we are valuable and purchased with a great price. We are saved. Salvation is a precious gift that we should cherish every moment of our life. This brings a joy that no one can take away from us. Joy to the world the Lord has come!

2.  A grateful heart 

A grateful heart leads to a place of contentment and joy.

Proverbs 15:13 Amplified Bible

“A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.” 

Proverbs 15:15 Amplified Bible

“All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].”

Proverbs 17:22 Amplified Bible

“A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”

We have a choice to be thankful, which gives us a happy heart, or to choose to complain and be ungrateful. Having a grateful heart brings life and joy. Looking at all the bad instead of the good in your life will bring stress, torment, and weariness.

This may sound very simple and even childish, yet most people tend to look at the negative or bad instead of the positive or good in their life. God is good and He has done great things in all of us. Choose to set yourself free with joy and enjoy your life and what God has done for you.

3.  Trusting in God

We can trust God with every part of our life. He will show us the right direction we need to take. He will help us and give us wisdom for our everyday life.

Psalm 16:11 NKJV

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right and are pleasures forevermore.”

This verse sums up. God will show us the right direction we are to take in life. He will be with us constantly, literally face to face. One encounter with God changes our lives forever. But in this case, we are with Him face to face on earth. We are His children and we can come boldly to Him like a child would their parent. No rejection. No fear.

The greatest part of this verse is, “in His presence is fullness of joy.” Not lacking anything. “It is totally full. Not partial joy; not imperfect joy; not joy intermingled with pain and sorrow; not joy which, though in itself real, does not satisfy the desires of the soul, as is the case with much of the happiness which we experience in this life – but joy, full, satisfying, unclouded, un-mingled with anything that would diminish its fulness or its brightness; joy that will not be diminished, as all earthly joys must be, by the feeling that it must soon come to an end.” (Albert Barnes notes on the Bible)

Acknowledging God and knowing He is with us and His presence is there makes us trust Him more and more. It empowers us to live our lives in boldness. It brings such a calm delight within us to know we are not alone.

Romans 15:13 NIV

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Trusting in God fills us with joy and peace. It allows hope to overflow in us and brings such a reassurance that life is good and God is with us. The Holy Spirit fills us with this hope. Wow, what a powerful insight on trusting God!

There are so many verses in the Bible about trusting God and what happens when we do. In the book of Psalms alone you will find over 80 verses on trusting God. Take time to study the Bible on trusting God. It will embed joy deep inside of you that no one or nothing can take away.

Pain, sorrow, trials, and tribulations, are temporary, but Joy is ETERNAL. Happiness is Outside, but Joy is Inside

Allow the fruit of Joy to grow inside of you. Walk in this promise daily. The Joy of the Lord is your strength! (Nehemiah 8:10)

Your Sister,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

 

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Fruit of the Spirit – Love

LoveThere are many Christians who want to love with God’s love, but in many cases, they don’t know how.

The entire Bible is a love story. From the creation of the world, through love, for the protection of the Israelites because of love, to the sending of a Saviour out of love, for Jesus sacrifice in love, the Bible is a book that is trying to send us a simple but powerful message. Love God and love each other as He loves us. The greatest commandment.

If you get nothing else out of the Bible and what it means to be a Christian, it needs to be this.

The word “love” gets thrown around so much that in many ways we have lost its meaning. Fortunately the Bible helps us get it back. We’re talking here about “Agape” love which is a divine affection, as opposed to “Phileo” which is more a friendship type of love and “Eros”, which is a romantic, or sensual love.

Love as a fruit of the Spirit is a verb. It’s not a feeling, and much like faith, if only expressed in words, it’s essentially meaningless. Though we like to hear the words “I love you” they mean nothing if not accompanied by loving action. Remember actions speak louder then words. Show you love people with your actions.

Agape love 

I. Love is Sacred

1 Jn 4:7 – 8, 16

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. … So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

This simplifies the idea of abiding if we see it as abiding in love because God is love. Love is from God, we don’t have this kind of love if we don’t know God and have his Spirit in us. If we are abiding in love, keeping it always in the forefront of all our interactions and choices, we are abiding in God.

Remember the love of God towards you is a special gift he gives each of us.

So really this message is to let Christians know that if they are not loving, they are not in God, they do not know God, they are not allowing His nature to abide in them, even if they profess belief in Jesus Christ.

II. Love is Selfless 

Php 2:1-3

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

Eph 3:18 – 19

“That you being rooted in love may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Paul says this love is difficult to comprehend and surpasses all knowledge. Yes it is. We come out of the womb entirely self absorbed, egocentric, existing to get our needs met. You know what, we don’t change much, we just find ways to make it look like getting our needs met is actually helping someone else. Until we understand this kind of love and allow it to work in our lives, it is impossible to consider others more significant than ourselves.

Perhaps another word for selfless here is humble, to show the difference from sacrificial which is coming next. Besides the sacrifice on the cross, how did Christ love us? By always acting, and teaching that others are more important than ourselves.

Until we know that survival is not our primary purpose in life, our behaviour will be motivated primarily by self-preservation. This selfless, humble love that washes feet, seeks to build others up, is foreign to the human nature and our culture, but by the example of Christ we can practice this kind of love, and through the power of the Holy Spirit we can achieve this kind of love.

So, love is selfless and humble,

III. Love is also Sacrificial

Yes these are related, but here we are specifically talking about behaviour. We can consider others more significant than ourselves, but if we don’t show it in our behaviour, it’s lost.

Eph 5: 25

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”

Ro 5: 8

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 15:13 

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for a friend.”

Love always requires sacrifice, whether it be giving up our time, interests, or to the far extreme, our lives or at least some organs. If you say you love someone, but have never given up something for them, chances are it’s not real love.

But there is another aspect to this that the church should feel very guilty about. That being loving those people who are hard to love. This may be the biggest sacrifice. It’s easy to love those who are attractive and likeable, who are on our side, but what about our enemies, the poor, the uneducated, the handicapped and mentally ill. How many of these people are in our churches. Why do you think that is? Maybe we need to sacrifice our comfort and our attitudes to make these people feel loved. It’s not easy, and only the Spirit can make it happen. Only agape love can love the unlovely.

IV. Love is Supportive

2 Cor 8: 1 – 8

“We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. [] Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you— see that you excel in this act of grace also.  I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.”

Grace for others is an outcome of your agape love towards people.

James 2: 15 – 16

“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”

Love is always alert to the needs of others. Agape love always gives. I said earlier that love without deeds is the same as faith without deeds as James indicates, so the words faith and love could be interchanged in that passage of James. Not only is love alert to needs, it does whatever it can to selflessly and sacrificially meet those real needs.

V. Love is Soothing

1 Cor 4: 21

“What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?”

1 Cor. 13: 4 

“Love is patient and kind…”

This is the character of God. Patient and kind. Life is hard and we all need a place where we can lick our wounds, be ourselves, rest, and feel safe and cared for. That is what love is supposed to do. Love makes us feel safe and soothed rather than pressured to perform, or live up to some standard. Love comforts us when we are struggling. Jesus said he will give us rest and peace. We all need to ask ourselves, do the people I love feel soothed by me? Can my loved ones completely let down their guard around me? Are they emotionally safe?

If we all treated each other this way we wouldn’t have to worry about not getting it back from others. We do it with babies, but I will suggest that there is never a time in our lives when we don’t need that kind of soothing, where we can just surrender and be completely exposed in the presence of another person without fear.

In my opinion, the opposite of this love is judgment. When someone says something out of turn, makes a mistake, does something that we get angry about, and we judge them, we are coming with the rod. We need to learn to let people be who they are. Not that they can do whatever they want if it is sinful, but that they can be themselves. Accept people in the middle of their mistakes. God did that with you!

This is not just with our close loved ones by the way. Christians are to display this love to all people including our enemies. You know the best way to “get” someone who hurts you? Love the part of them that hurts so much that they have to ooze that pain out to others. Why not try to sooth that part of them and help them heal as a way to get them to stop, rather than hurting them back? Be a person who others feel soothed by, and seek out those who are able to sooth you when you need it. Ideally that would be everyone in the church.

VI. Love is Sincere 

Rom 12: 9 

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

1 Pet 1: 22

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

In these verses we see the purity of love. Hate evil (or as we learned, worthless or hurtful things), and hold fast to what is good. Purify your soul through obedience, and love from a pure heart. Purify your soul through obedience. Interesting.

Sounds like abiding again to me. We are being told that we can only love in a genuine, earnest way when we allow only goodness into our hearts and minds, and obey the truth (Jesus is the truth). The love that only comes from God as a fruit of the Spirit cannot be manifest when our minds are focused on sin or impure thoughts.

For instance, is it a sincere and pure love if you tell your wife you love her when she goes to bed, then go to the computer and surf porn sites? Are you loving your husband when you speak in a derogatory way about him to your girlfriends? Are you loving Jesus if you are not obeying his words?

VII. Love is Stubborn

1 Cor 13: 7 

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Psalm 118:1 – 4, 29 

“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”

The love that is from God never ends. Could you imagine if it did? Humans would have been obliterated eons ago. God bears with us, he believes in us, he hopes with us, and he endures our constant disobedience and wandering away from him. We are the prodigals.

This love is not dependent on other’s behavior, it is unconditional for the person, but may not be accepting of sinful behavior. Unconditional love means you love the person, but still confront the behavior. That is why God’s love sometimes looks harsh, but the motive is always for our good.

I always shake my head when I hear couples split up because they are not in love anymore. What does that have to do with anything? What does “in love” mean? I think in today’s world it means; “My selfish desires are getting met.” When we fall out of love it means we’re bored with the person. That’s not love, real love cannot be shaken, you cannot stop loving if it is real agape love, the essential nature of this love is that it is endless.

Basically love never gives up on anybody, no matter what they do, no matter what we feel. … And finally,

VIII. Love is Supreme 

1 Cor 13:1 – 3 

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

Matt 22:37 – 38

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

There it is. Nothing is more important to God than love. But as we have seen, it is not the cultural romantic notion of love, or the feeling of love. It is the sacrificial, humble, persevering love that he has shown throughout the history of humanity. It is the love that confronts and disciplines so that the person being loved will not stray and end up in hell.

Tough love is often looked at as harsh, but in reality it is the strongest form of love because it is given to help pull someone out of their bad behavior. Tough love is Agape love. If you truly love someone you will want them to change bad behavior for their own sake so that they can grow in Christ and live a better life. 

Pastor Kris Belfils

Vernon McGee calls Love the “energy of the Spiritual gifts,” because Paul makes it very clear that any gifts without love are useless. It is the first fruit of the Spirit because it is the only one that is absolutely required.

But let’s return to the great and first commandment in Matthew 22 for a minute. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. The second is like it, to love your neighbors.” When God says something is first, it is first. Love is the first or supreme fruit, and loving God is the first or supreme commandment.

He means that without this first foundational commandment, the others are unattainable, and in these first two depend all the Law and the prophets.

First of all notice it says, “the Lord your God,” emphasizing the lordship he has over us and the obedience that is our way to love him. Then it says, “with all your heart,” which is the feeling center of our being, “with all our soul,” which is the seat of our will, and “with all our mind,” the thinking part of us.

This is said in this way to represent the whole of our being. We are to love God with our feelings, our will, and our rational mind, and let me suggest that if even one of these is missing, the others are probably lacking as well. This is especially true of the soul or will. It is only by surrendering our will to the Lord that we experience Him fully.

We can love him with our mind by reading all the great things he has done for us, we can have warm loving feelings toward him because of these things, and may I suggest that this is where many Christians are stuck. The part that is lacking is an experience of Him that makes the thoughts and feelings about Him real.

Often people will only allow God so far into their heart and then no more. Is this you? If so, you have a lot of head knowledge about God and His love, but no heart knowledge, or experience. I can see how this prevents a personal relationship with God. If we did this with people we love in our lives our relationships would be shallow and cold.

Has God forgiven you of much? Do you believe that God exists? Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and mind? Now I know it’s easy to say yes, but if your entire life was on video tape, would anyone be able to tell that this is true?

Sometimes Christians try very hard to love other people, but their love for God is weak, and Paul says this gains us nothing. You can’t make up for not loving God by trying to love others more. You will pay an emotional price for this because you are not tapped into the source. When you drink the juice and eat the bread during communion are you really communing with Him?

You might be saying, that it’s an awfully tall order to love like this, and you would be right. It is not only the first and most important of the spiritual fruit, but it’s also the hardest to do through human will. That is why it is a spiritual fruit and not an inherent human character trait, and why we are commanded to do it so often. It is not in our nature.

The love we require in order to love God, and others like this, comes from God (It’s a bit of a dilemma, I am asked to love God but I can’t unless I get the love from him, which requires me to love him. But I remind you again that loving him is defined by obedience to his commands, something we can in our souls, will ourselves to do with the help of the Holy Spirit), so the other question is, do you have a deep intimate, obedient relationship with the Lord that allows this fruit to be manifest in your life?

Again I will suggest that if you do not love God like the commandment says, and as John tells us, you don’t really know Him, you haven’t really experienced Him, and that is why the church should exist, to help you build that relationship. God wants us to be that church, and I want us to be that church.

Are you growing in Christ and changing, or just going to church, going through the motions, smiling at people, listening to sermons, but never applying what you have heard? Truthfully, what a waste of time then! We should be growing, changing, and becoming more like Christ everyday. We should be seeing areas in our lives that need change and be determined for change to come. How can we reach out to our community when we are too self-observed and unwilling to change?  We can’t!

Open your heart to more love, Agape love, in your life. Hunger for the Fruit of the Spirit to be manifested in your life!

This is just small look at the fruit of love. Research in God’s word for yourself what all that fruit looks like, tastes like, and share it with others!

Your Sister,

Pastor Kris Belfils

http://www.krisbelfils.com

http://www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

http://www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

(My blog is usually my own writings, in this case this sermon was based off of Sean Harder’s message: “Fruit of the Spirit – Love”)

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Fruit Of The Spirit Series – Known By Your Fruit

Fruit of the spirit seriesFruit of the Spirit! “Wow,” I thought to my self, “What fruit do people see produced from me?” My mind wondered to all the “yucky” responses I had over the years of situations and circumstances beyond my control. Times when I spoke my mind in a harsh tone or when I felt the need to let someone know they hurt me by ignoring them or say edgy words to them. Those reactions didn’t produce “life” but only “death!”

How does the Fruit of the Spirit get developed in us? Many times the Fruit of the Spirit was only produced after God corrected me and showed me how I walked in my flesh instead of His Spirit.

Hebrews 12:11 Amplified Bible

“For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness – in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God].”

OUCH! How can the Fruit of the Spirit be so painful? So I thought! Reality is; we all have more “flesh” in us then the Spirit. Our flesh produces fruit as well. Good or bad, we produce fruit.

What fruit are you producing?

What fruit are you producing? Fruit that looks good but is bad? Fruit that is immature, or fruit that is good?

I love plums. When plums are in season they are so sweet, juicy, and delicious. One day I went to the store to do some grocery shopping. I went to the fruit section and saw these beautiful, plump, deep purple plums. I thought to myself, “They look so good, they have to be delicious!” So I purchased a whole bag of them. When I got home, I was so excited to eat lunch and have one of those good looking plums. But when I bit into one of them it was bitter, hard, and dry. I was extremely disappointed. Thinking and expecting a juicy sweet bite and only got a bitter dry mouth. I quickly went to my sink and spit it out and threw the entire bag of plums away.

Fruit that looks good, but in reality is very bad! Is that you? God lovingly showed me  that that bitter plum was my fruit, and how He wanted to help me be the producer of good fruit.

It is easier to be selfish, which is the flesh, and think we are producing good fruit. We get all dressed up on Sundays and put on our best faces, but inside we are miserable or ugly. We can get caught up in what people think of us more then what God thinks of us. This will only produce good looking bad fruit.

People will come and “pick” your fruit. Again, what fruit are you producing? Maybe you are producing immature (not ripe) fruit. This is thinking you are a wonderful person when in reality you walk immaturely in Christ and expect others to like your fruit.

Immature fruit is walking around ignoring issues in your life and expecting good results. It is thinking everyone else is wrong and you are right. I know because I have walked down that immature, unfruitful road many times in my life. God would be working on me and I would allow Him a little of my heart thinking that was enough. Then I would try and minister to others not knowing my fruit was just in the infant stages. This can bring bitterness and resentment in others.

We can really do a world of hurt for others if we don’t take care of any issues in our own life. Issues like; pride, complaining, gossip, un-forgiveness, and so much more, if not dealt with, will produce bitter, unripe, even toxic fruit.

Rick Warren states in Purpose Driven Life:

“There are no short cuts to maturity. It takes years for us to grow to adulthood, and it takes a full season for fruit to mature and ripen. The same is true for the fruit of the Spirit. The development of Christlike character cannot be rushed. Spiritual growth, like physical growth, takes time. When you try to ripen fruit quickly, it loses its flavor. In America, tomatoes are usually picked unripened so they won’t bruise during shipping to the stores. Then, before they are sold, these green tomatoes are sprayed with CO2 gas to turn them red instantly. Gassed tomatoes are edible, but they are no match to the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato that is allowed to mature slowly.” Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 217.

If you want to live like Christ, and have given your heart to Him, there will be times of correction and rebuking. If you are like me, you know in your “knower” that you need to be corrected so that you produce the fruit of the spirit and not the works of the flesh.

God chose us before we were even born. He had a purpose for our lives and that is to bear good fruit.

John 15:16 NASB

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”

Jesus taught His disciples that fruitfulness was His purpose for them. The fruit of the Spirit is the character of Christ produced by the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.

The Scriptures clearly teach that we cannot hope to develop godly character without the work of the Holy Spirit in our life. Paul write about contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit:

Gal. 5:19 – 21

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

A Self-centered life manifests the works of the flesh, while a Christ-centered life manifests the fruit of the Spirit.

Paul continues in Galatians:

Gal. 5:22 – 25 NLT

“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!”

The flesh can produce nothing but evil works, while the Holy Spirit produces Christ-life fruit. The former requires self-effort and results in death, and produces dead things, while the latter requires obedience to the Holy Spirit and produces life and peace.

Dying to our flesh always produces good fruit. We have to die to live. John the Baptist stated:

John 3:30 HCSB

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

The Contemporary English Versions states this verse:

“Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.”

This is talking about releasing our desires and needs, actually dying to them, for what Christ wants.

It is not easy dying to our flesh. It doesn’t come natural, and their will be pain involved when we do. We have to surrender and allow God to give us a new heart.

Ezekiel 11:19 Amplified Bible

“ And I will give them one heart [a new heart] and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony [unnaturally hardened] heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God],”

Do you want God to live in you? This is what happens when we crucify our flesh (Gal. 2:20). When we ask Christ to come into our hearts as Lord and Savior, we are asking Him to come and live, dwell in, and abide in us. We all need this! If you have done this, you can no longer practice or walk in sin. What I mean is that we have to STOP living in and participating in things that don’t please God.

1 John 3:9 – 10 The Message

“People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It’s not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin. Here’s how you tell the difference between God’s children and the Devil’s children: The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love brother or sister. A simple test.”

Do you practice sin or righteous ways? God has given us a “blue-print” of how we should live in the form of the Bible. This is His love-letter to us. Not rules and regulations to make our life miserable, but guidelines to make us fruitful and live an abundant life!

Be a Fruit Inspector, first in your own life, then in others. What fruit are you producing? Take a look around you and see if there is destruction, strife, chaos, hatred, lack of self-control, anger, un-faithfulness, lack of patience, meanness, and so much more bad fruit.

Surrender means pain before pleasure. Surrendering is dying to your fleshly desires. Anytime you get your way by acting ungodly, you have really lost. Oh we might win an argument or get to have our own way, but stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, you have lost. Remember, whenever flesh wins, we lose. When the Spirit wins, we win and produce good fruit.

Are you going to keep your flesh happy, but have no peace or die to your flesh, experience some pain, but then receive an abundant reward of peace, goodness, joy, and love? Really, the choice is yours.

In the natural, good fruit brings life to those who eat it, bad fruit only brings death. This is the same for our spiritual life. Giving God our whole heart and yielding to His correction brings forth good fruit always. But, if we put our time and energy into dead, worthless things, we will produce death.

We avoid “death traps” in the natural. Often in our spiritual lives we tend to run to them. Examples of Death Traps can be; Un-forgiveness, bitterness, harboring an offense, selfishness, self-pity, laziness, complaining, feeling superior to others, and the list goes on.

Death traps do not produce good fruit. They don’t produce life of any kind, only death. It is time to bury the dead things and move on with God. Quickly get rid of anything, or anyone that might be bringing death to you.

If you have people in your life who are always bringing you down, or producing dead fruit, it is time to walk away. But remember, if they are bringing you down, it might be due to your immature fruit of being offended over something they never meant to hurt you with. See how you need to mature and have a better perspective on life and people? See how important it is to die to your flesh and walk in God’s spirit? We can lead ourselves astray thinking others are death traps, when in reality we are the ones who need to change.

Inspect the fruit of others when you are not sure if they are someone you should have in your life. If they are producing good fruit, then relax and enjoy the fruit they are producing. If they produce bad fruit, if they constantly have a wake behind them of destruction, selfishness, and pain, it is a sign to walk away. Not in anger or resentment, but in wisdom and peace knowing God is with you, and pray their hearts soften to allow God to work in their life. The devil came to still, kill, and destroy. This is his fruit. This can also help us when we inspect the fruit of others.

Everyone bears fruit. I want to be fruitful and produce good fruit, the Fruit of the Spirit. What does it mean to be fruitful? One definition of it is the word “fertile.” Of course, the word fertile has several meanings. If a woman is fertile, that means that she has the ability to conceive and give birth to a child. If a piece of land is fertile, that means it has the power to bring forth something that can be harvested to meet the needs of human beings. If your life is bringing forth anything that can be harvested to meet the needs of others when they pluck that fruit, then your life is fruitful, just as God intended it to be.

You and I are the fruit bearers of the kingdom of God. Everyday our life should bear some kind of fruit. What fruit are you bearing?

For the month of May and June, 2013, we will be looking at the different Fruit of the Spirit and how to bear good fruit.

God has made available to us the means for leading an effective, and fulfilling, powerful, rewarding, and fruitful life. Let us be fertile soil, pliable in God’s hands, to produce good fruit, not only for our own life, but for those we come in contact with.

Be looking for more on the “Fruit Of The Spirit” in the coming weeks. The first fruit we will be looking at is “Love.”

From one Fruit bearer to another,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Now Women (A Mother’s Day Message)

Now WomenI would like to address the men for a minute. Yes, this message is geared towards Mothers/Women, but I encourage you to be praying for your women. Your women, in this message, might be receiving a wonderful revelation that will minister to them and will possibly be transformed and changed. Please encourage your women today and let them know that you love them and support them in life. Give them freedom to be themselves.

Role of Woman

Defining the role, as a woman in this world, is a hard thing to do. Tradition has placed women in a less equal role than God has ordained for them.

The “feminist” movement has left a bad taste in our mouths and Godly women do not want to be associated with the views and tactics of this movement. They just want to be treated well and given the same opportunities as men.

History has not been kind to women. Women in third world countries are still being viewed as “less than” and treated as a material object instead of a human being that was created by God.

In the past, Satan has caused women to retreat for fear that he would bruise their heels. But God is raising them up NOW to crush the enemy’s head.

After Adam and eve sinned, God told Satan, who had appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent and deceived her:

Genesis 3:15 NIV

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He (Jesus) will crush your head, and you will strike his (Jesus’) heel.”

Many women lose sight of the fact that Christ in them will crush the enemy’s head. They shrink back in fear that Satan will bruise their heels or their “seed”.

We as women are called to be women of purpose. This call has been given directly by God.

Women of Purpose

*Women of purpose consider it a privilege to be Ambassadors for Christ.

*Women of purpose understand the bigger picture of life.

*Women of purpose respond to responsibility, giving 100%.

*Women of purpose daily set priorities, placing God first in all things.

*Women of purpose see family and community as opportunities to demonstrate Christ’s love.

*Women of purpose model servanthood to all in the body of Christ.

*Women of purpose, by the Holy Spirit, manifest excellence in every part of their lives.

Some Facts:

▶Over 60% of the people in a given church are women.

▶75% of families are from single mother homes.

▶The first 5 years of a child’s life is influenced by the mother more than the father.

Women have great influence in this world. They have influence with their family, work, church, and community.

Women have nothing to fear from Satan, but Satan has reason to fear women. Why? We have Christ living in us and He will crush the enemies head! We win! It is because in this “now” season, God is calling WOMEN to rise up as “NOW” women and help usher in the new thing God is doing.

The New Thing God is doing amongst women:

▶ Giving the freedom to be who they were created to be. It is time we as women become happy with ourselves and walk in the freedom it gives us.

▶God is bringing reconciliation between genders.

▶Women uniting with other women to do a mighty work for God. An army of Mighty Women Warriors to do unimaginable things for God’s glory!

▶Raising them up with mantles of authority and wisdom to build the Kingdom of God together.

Now Women

1.  Now Women Initiate the new thing!

What does a NOW woman look like? Studying the account of Jesus’ first public miracle gives us a clue.

In John 2:1 – 11, The wine had run out at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. Mary, the mother of Jesus, determined the need of more wine. She responds and immediately went to Jesus and informed Him of this need. Mary goes to the Only one who could help. She knew the miracle working powers that were available in the Son of God, and accessed them.

Notice Jesus’ response to His mother: “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). Basically Jesus was saying; “Why are you telling me this? It is not time yet for Me to display My glory.”

Mary initiated the “new thing” by going to Jesus. Mary was a NOW woman who knew it was time for something new to happen, and she was prepared to initiate it.

Mary told the attendants; “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5). Here is an example of a NOW woman initiating a new thing. In response to her initiation, Jesus gave instructions to the servants to fill the stone water pots with water so He could create the needed wine.

Many times, women initiate the next move of God on the earth, just as Mary initiated the beginning of Jesus’ ministry of miracles.

2.  Now Women conceive the new thing.

In the natural, only women can conceive and give birth to a child. Women are created that way. Hebrews chapter eleven is known as the “Hall of faith.” Sarah is recognized as the first woman of faith.

Hebrews 11:11 NKJV

“By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”

Though Sarah was old, she conceived the “new thing” God wanted to birth; Isaac, the child of promise.

Like Sarah, Now Women conceive the “new thing.” Even in your old or young age you can conceive and give birth to a new move of God. Such women are desperately needed in the church! If there is one thing wrong with us right now it is that we’ve lost the passion to be able to conceive the new thing God wants to do on the earth for this very hour! We need to cry out to God for conception of the New He is doing and say, “Let it begin in me!”

3.  Now Women announce the new thing.

Mary Magdalene announced the resurrection of Jesus to the Disciples. The bible tells us that Jesus chose her, a woman, to appear to first.

Mark 16:9 NKJV

“Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.”

Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that Jesus was alive. She was the first preacher of the Gospel, a woman. Why did Jesus appear to a woman first? I believe it was because Jesus knew the others were too filled with fear and unbelief. to announce His resurrection. In fact, they didn’t believe Mary when she made the announcement, but she knew she had seen her Lord.

Mark 10 – 11 NKJV

“She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.”

In this situation, Mary was not afraid to tell others of what she encountered. She was a mouth piece for Jesus letting His followers know that He was alive and well. She had the courage to announce the good news because she knew what it meant. He truly was the Son of God! She realized all what Jesus said was true too. History was forever changed and she was chosen to be the announcer of this miraculous event.

Like Mary, women are about to become the next trumpeters of faith throughout this land. Don’t be surprised if criticism comes and people do not believe what God has shown you. It happened to Mary, and it may happen to you. Continue to initiate, conceive, and announce the NOW thing, the NEW thing God has shown you.

4.  Now Women Intervene for the new thing.

Abigail had the ability to circumvent trouble by intervening at the right moment. She was married to Nabal, a wicked, evil person.

In 1 Samuel 25:2 – 42, Nabal was a rich business man. David and his men protected Nabal’s men and wanted to get provisions for his men from Nabal. David’s young messengers approached Nabal and asked for food and water. Nabal rejected their request and didn’t give them anything. This made David mad. He immediately went with 400 men to go and destroy Nabal and all that he owned. One of Nabal’s men, who David helped, went and told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, what had happened and that David and his men were coming. Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys She sent her servants on before her. She didn’t tell her husband, but went undercover behind a hill and saw David and His men. She dismounted quickly and fell on her face before David and bowed down to the ground. She fell at his feet and took all the iniquity her husband did towards them. She explained how her husband is exactly what his name means; folly and evil. She expressed “as the Lord lives,” she prophetically decreed how David would hold back the bloodshed and from avenging what Nabal did and any enemy who seeks harm like would experience what Nabal will experience. She asked for forgiveness for what her husband did. David received all the gifts and vowed to not harm Nabal. She waited to tell her husband in the morning, after he had his feast and all the wine was out of his system. When she did, he experienced a heart attack and died ten days later. David heard that Nabal died and took Abigail as his wife.

Abigail did several things that were correct: She positioned herself correctly, she humbled herself correctly, and she interceded and intervened correctly. Her prophetic declarations showed boldness and insight into what God would do for her.

God has placed many NOW women in difficult situations in which they have the opportunity to intervene. When they do, God intervenes on their behalf. When they acknowledge the anointing of God on a person, God blesses them and they will receive the respect and favor of God on their lives. Not only do they recognize the anointing on their leaders, they have an anointing on themselves also. NOW women not only intervene, but they are given eyes to see and ears to hear what is needed in any situation. They are anointed with an anointing that breaks any yoke of bondage!

5.  Now Women activate the time of change for the new thing.

Naomi is another example of a NOW woman. She was a woman who knew it was time for change. In the Book of Ruth Naomi had moved to Moab from Bethlehem with her husband. But then she lost him as well as both her sons. Realizing that Bethlehem held the key to her future, she decided to return. On of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, chose to leave her native land and go with Naomi. Together they began to rebuild their lives. Ruth went to work gleaning the fields of a man named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband. When the harvest ended, Naomi realized that it was again time for change. She felt that Ruth needed a more stable situation. She told Ruth she wanted to secure a future for her and sent her to Boaz, hoping that he would take care of her because she was a relative.

Naomi was a NOW woman because she seized the opportunity to activate a cultural law of redemption in order to protect her daughter-in-law. She gave Ruth several instructions; to wash and anoint herself, to put her best garment in place of the widow’s garb she had been wearing, and wait for the right timing and to lie down at Boaz’s feet.

The result of Naomi’s taking action at the right moment and Ruth’s obedience was that Boaz got up and blessed Ruth. He also promised he would abide by the law of redemption and would take care of her if a closer relative would not do his duty. He became her “Kinsman Redeemer.”

Now women know when it’s time for change and activate it. If they step out in courage and move to initiate the change at the right moment, they will secure their future.

Why is this important? Because if Women can discern, but the spirit, what God is doing and rise up to pray, His plans will be fulfilled through them.

6.  Now women complete instead of compete for the new thing.

We as women have always seemed to compete with each other. Sometimes it feels like we have to have a “one up” on every other woman we see. Women compete for looking the best, for men, for position, for relationships, and so much more.

It is time we stop competing with each other and start completing one another! Where one lacks in strength another can pick up the slack. Each of us have different gifts and talents. Too many times women use those gifts against each other. It only brings strife, division, hatred and hurt feelings. When women lock arms together mighty things can happen. There is no stopping what God can do with a group of women who have their hearts set on helping each other succeed.

Women have to rise up and see the bigger picture. There is strength in numbers. The devil wants to destroy anything and everyone that is connected with you and God. He wants to cause division and hatred. He fuels the fires of competing with one another. He places thoughts and lies in our heads for us to act upon. Let us recognize this and stop falling for his schemes of trickery.

We are sisters! My fellow sister is not my enemy or competition, the enemy of my soul is. Let us join together and win souls for the Kingdom of God. Let us come together and unite in love, God’s love. And because it is perfect love from God, it drives out any fear of rejection from others. It drives out any worries of being replaced or someone getting a “one up” on us.

Let’s be women who support one another and encourage each other. Be quick to have mercy and grace for each other. There is always room for my fellow sister to make mistakes. Remind yourself that you are not perfect and make mistakes too. Treat each lady as if she was your best friend. This gives freedom for relationships to grow, heal and sore to new heights. I have done this and it has helped me forgive my sister.  Choose to love in spite of your feelings. We need to build a community of loving, caring, supporting, encouraging, and never back bitting women in our church today!

Recap:

  1. Now Women initiate the new thing.
  2. Now Women conceive the new thing.
  3. Now Women announce the new thing.
  4. Now Women intervene for the new thing.
  5. Now Women activate the time of change for the new thing.
  6. Now Women complete instead of compete for the new thing.

 Beauty Tips

By Audrey Hepburn

▶For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

▶For lovely eyes, seek out the GOOD in people.

▶For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

▶For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

▶For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

▶People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows.

The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years.

If you are woman, always remember you were created for a purpose. Be a NOW WOMAN for God’s glory to change your world!

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com