Pastor Kris Belfils

www.HopeFellowshipSpokane.com

August 19, 2013 by Pastor Kris Belfils

Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness (Part 2)

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, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].”

God hates pride

Proverbs 6:16 Amplified Bible

“These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren.”

A proud look – the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others. God doesn’t like it when we think little of other people. Especially if He has gifted us in an area and we look down on others because they can’t do what we do.

Maybe some of you are gifted mentally and you learn really really fast. Sometimes those people make the worse trainers because they just don’t get it that others don’t get it the first go around. And if you are not careful you make others feel inferior by your words, “Well, how can you not understand that?” “Hello?” Don’t you hate that, “Hello, is anybody home in there?” “Yes, thank you I have been in here a lot of years.”

Some teenagers haven’t lived long enough to know a lot, but they think they know everything. Not all are like that, thank God. You don’t have to wait to be fifty to start humbling yourself. You can start now! This will put a smile on God’s face.

I have read this someplace: “When a person turns eighteen their brains fall on their pillow at night and they don’t get it back until they are twenty five. For me it was more like forty-five.

God hates pride. It’s not just something that He doesn’t like, He hates it.

Humility is defined as: “freedom from pride and arrogance, a modest estimation of your own worth.” In theology it means “lowliness of mind, having a consciousness of your own defects.”

Not unto condemnation. You should be able to tell people what your strengths and weaknesses are and not be embarrassed because we all have them.

God purposely leaves weaknesses even in His choicest of saints because if you had no weaknesses you would have no need for God. Sorry, you will never do it all right. No one is perfect! You can have a right heart, and you can want to do what is right and you can get up everyday and press toward that mark of perfection, but you have to get comfortable with having some weaknesses. Know what you are good at and know what you are not good at. Stop putting all your time into what you are not good at, trying to prove something you are never going to prove. If you are not good at something, find someone else who is.

I tried to sow and do scrapbooking, but that was just stupid. I tried to garden and decorate my home, but that was not my gifting. I tried to do sales and work at a retail store but it left me feeling empty and never satisfied. When I minister for God I feel it is my purpose in life. It brings such a satisfying feeling and I know I am doing exactly what I was created for. It fuels me to see people transformed by the power of God. This is my theme and mission for ministry: “Seeing people transformed by the power of God to transform their world in turn!”

Humble (Vines Greek Dictionary): “Low lying, or to stay under.”

To stay under the mighty hand of God. To stay somewhere when you would like to leave or get out of it but you know God is telling you, “Not yet, not yet, not yet!”

Maybe staying at a job that you are the only believer and it really is not all that comfortable to you. Everything in you would love to go do something else, and you could. You could go get another job but you know deep down inside you are the only light in the place and that is where God needs you. So you humble yourself. You stay under the direction of God.

When are we going to learn to get around to living for God? To realize everything doesn’t have to be comfortable. Everything doesn’t have to feel good. There are sacrifices that we are asked to make sometimes. To stay somewhere where you really don’t want to be. To do something you really don’t want to do. Even as far as not defending yourself.

It’s taking me a long time to not try and convince people that I am a good person when they judged me. “Well, you just don’t understand.” Honestly, the more you try and defend yourself, the guiltier you look. Sooner or later you have to get to the point and say, “God you are in charge of my reputation, and if it isn’t good it is Your problem.”

No body is free until you get to the point you don’t try and impress anybody. I said you are not free until you stop trying to impress anybody!

Meek (Vine’s Greek Dictionary): “Gentle, mild, Christ’s own disposition. It is the Christian adornment. It is the opposite of self interest and self assertiveness. It is an inwrought grace of the soul.”

It has to be worked in us. You can’t just get in the prayer line and get this. I could lay hands on you until you had no more hair on your head and pray for you all night and not pray humility in you. You have a seed of it in you, I do too. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us!

But a seed has to be watered, it has to be nurtured. You have to keep the weeds away from it. It has to have sunlight. You have to work with it. In order for this seed to grow you have to study in these areas, you have to spend time with God, and you have to go through things where you have to apply this fruit. In the beginning it is so hard you feel like there is no way you can do it.

Let’s talk about trails for a minute…

Trials

2 Cor. 1:8 Amplified Bible

“For we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about the affliction and oppressing distress which befell us [the province of] Asia, how we were so utterly and unbearably weighed down and crushed that we despaired even of life [itself].”

I’m telling you Paul was having a bad day!

2 Cor. 1:9 Amplified Bible

“Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the [very] sentence of death, but that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God Who raises the dead.”

Why do you find yourself in a situation that is definitely over your head and seems like more then you can bear? God wants you to say, “I can’t handle this, but God you can.” “This is too much for me, I lean on you.” “I rely on you God for wisdom.”

Sometimes the more God uses you and the more He blesses you, the more He will have these kinds of situations salted and peppered into your life every now and then.

There is something about us, we just can’t seem to stay right if all we ever have is good good, blessing, blessing, blessing, favor, favor, blessing, blessing. You know why? We start to get proud and puffed up.

The Bible says pride puffs one up. Sometimes God lets us walk into some stupid trap the devil placed before us. He’ll get us out of it but not until God is done with it.

God has to keep us in a position that He can use us and the only way God can use us is when we stay humble, under, submissive. It is not just about being submissive to God, we need to be submissive to the human authority God places over us. And we need to learn how to do it with a good attitude.

You have to learn to come under authority before you come in authority. Coming under authority is not just doing what someone tells you to do, and doing it with a bad attitude and start talking about them behind their back. Come on now! We have to say, “God if this is the job you have given me right now then I’m going to trust You. I’m going to do this for you. And I am going to do it with a good attitude. I’m going to do it unto you.”

The Bible never asks us to do things for man, it asks us to do things for God. The Bible says, The love of Christ constrains me (2 Cor. 5:14). The more we love God, the more we are going to control ourselves to operate in all this fruit. We are going to trust God to get what we are suppose to have. (We will be talking more about this when we talk about the fruit of self-control)

Meekness is not weakness. It is strength under control. Let’s talk about Paul’s famous thorn for a minute.

2 Cor. 12:7 – 8 Amplified Bible

“And to keep me from being puffed up and too much elated by the exceeding greatness (preeminence) of these revelations, there was given me a thorn (a splinter) in the flesh,…”

God was using Paul mightily more then anybody else at that time. He had a miraculous conversion. Miracles. He received by direct revelation two thirds of the New Testament. The greatest revelation on grace.

“…a messenger of Satan, to rack and buffet and harass me, to keep me from being excessively exalted. Three times I called upon the Lord and besought [Him] about this and begged that it might depart from me;..”

And He said, “No!” We’d like to think God is going to say yes after everything we ask Him. “Oh God You got to get me out of this!” Well, sometimes God says, “No! You are more valuable to Me in that situation then out of it.”

Vs. 9 “But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness…”

God said, “My grace is sufficient for you and My strength and power are made perfect in your weakness.”

God in essence said, “I have given you this thing that creates a weakness in you and inability in you so you’re going to need me and cry out for My grace, and it’s all gonna be okay anyway Paul cause I’m gonna fill up that strength with my grace and it will be as if you didn’t even have it, but I’m going to leave it with you so you need Me.”

Pride is independence. It’s all about me, and I, and what I can do, and not being needy. We inherently don’t want to need anybody. We would much prefer to be self-sufficient. But that’s not God’s plan.

Look at Job for a minute. He did have a problem. He was a righteous man but he had gotten a little smidge into self-righteousness. If you really studied the book of Job, which I highly recommend, you’ll see that he had a little attitude adjustment that was needed. And after he got it God blessed him twice as much as before.

God’s not trying to hurt anybody. He’ll bless you more after you humble yourself. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due time He might lift you up and exalt you.

Job 10:16 Amplified Bible

“If I lift myself up, You hunt me like a lion and again show Yourself [inflicting] marvelous [trials] upon me.”

You can scream at the devil until you don’t have any voice left. Realize it isn’t all the devil. Some of it was God growing me up. He was allowing me to be in certain situations to teach me how to still act like this no matter what my circumstances were or what situation I was in. This is the “grow up stuff” we need to learn.

The fact is God does want to bless you more then you can possibly imagine but you cannot maintain the gifts God wants to give you if you don’t have the fruit to balance it out. Otherwise you are a tree with no roots. First we have to get rooted and grounded in God.

Job 33:16 Amplified Bible

“Then He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction [terrifying them with warnings].”

I believe when we are acting bad God gives us warnings but we don’t always listen.

Job 33:17 Amplified Bible

“That He may withdraw man from his purpose and cut off pride from him [disgusting him with his own disappointing self-sufficiency].”

Is anybody disgusted with your own self-sufficiency? Like, I am just fed up with acting like I know it all, can do it all, don’t need anybody, competing with other people, comparing myself to other people. I don’t want the pressure anymore of trying to impress anybody. I just want to be free to be me, and be wherever God has put me!

What hard work it is trying to impress people! We have to buy things we can’t afford, and dress in clothes we don’t even like and they are not even comfortable.

Fruits of Pride

Do you have pride in your heart? Believe it or not there is fruit produced from pride in our life. The things we do, the attitudes we have produce fruit. I read “50 Fruit of Pride” and it was amazing how many on the list I did.

Martha wanted to impress Jesus with all her work but Jesus said, “…Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41 NASB)

What do you do or use to make an impression on others? Cars? Jewelry? Home? The furniture you own? The neighborhood you live in? The company you work for? The amount of money you make a month? Your level of education? What restaurants you eat at? Who you know? What you know? What you look like? Are you a name dropper?

Be free from impressing people. Just be yourself and you will enjoy your life and have fun!

When you are full of pride you draw attention to yourself. You like to talk about yourself. Desire recognition and praise. “Give me the credit that is due me!” You are not fulfilled in serving others. You are self-sufficient. “I will do it myself, then I will know it is done right.” OUCH!

Proud people are anxious because they are always worried about something. They actually think they can solve their own problems.

Self-focused, overly self-conscious. They fear man, and are very concerned about what people think of them.

The Bible says we need to be very careful about our thinking. Be careful when you think you stand, lest you fall.

Even giving your testimony can be given in pride. It it glorifies the person instead of God, it is pride. When giving our testimony the time has to be right and our motives have to be right or we are just gloating.

“Oh brother are you sick? I was sick just last week with the same thing but I prayed and it instantly went away!” What an insensitive, unfeeling, unthinking, unloving, haughty, puffed up Christian! … Selah

We should never give our testimony unless it glorifies God. So many times we lose the power of something that is a secret between us and God because we have to tell somebody!

God has so much that He wants to do in everyone of our lives. God wants to lift you up. He wants to bless you in amazing ways and share His power with you. But first we have to humble ourselves. We have to prove that we will do what ever God asks us to do with those blessings and with that power. Otherwise we become dangerous and all we do is hurt people. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. that in due time He may exalt you and lift you up! Amen!

Ask God to help you be a more gentle, meek, and humble person. Be a plant that wants to grow they way the Master Gardner wants you to grow instead of a stubborn week that wants its way and chokes out all the other healthy plants.

Blessings,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

(A portion of this article was from Joyce Meyer’s audio CD: “Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness”)

August 15, 2013 by Pastor Kris Belfils

Fruit of the Spirit – Gentleness (Part 1)

Gal. 5:22 Amplified Bible

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.

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:

The meek shall eat and be satisfied (Psalm 22:26)
The meek will He guide in judgment (Psalm 25:9)
The meek will He teach His way (Psalm 25:9)
The meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 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

August 6, 2013 by Pastor Kris Belfils

Fruit of the Spirit – Faithfulness

Galatians 5:22 – 23 Amplified Bible

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 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.

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

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

July 24, 2013 by Pastor Kris Belfils

Fruit of the Spirit – Kindness

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.”

“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.

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.”

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].”

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

July 15, 2013 by Pastor Kris Belfils

Fruit of the Spirit – Patience

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].”

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.

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.”

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

July 1, 2013 by Pastor Kris Belfils

Fruit of the Spirit – Joy

Gal. 5:22 Amplified Bible

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