Have you ever wondered why we all just can’t get along? I know I have. I think of a peaceful state where everyone does exactly what they are suppose to, are accountable, fair, nonjudgmental, reliable, peace loving, kind, honest and just want to do right. I am always shocked when someone exhibits any other kind of behavior; especially when it is me. I am so much better than what I use to be, thank God. I have never had problems with honesty (except for an occasional little white lie) or being judgmental or unfair or with trying to do the right thing. But, I have from time to time been unkind, irritable, not accountable or unreliable. I have to be honest, I didn’t necessary want to be that way but I just allowed circumstances or my own actions or reactions get the best of me. Let me just stop right now and say I’m sorry and I mean that with all sincerity. So, just stop now and apologize, even if you think that you’ve never ever done any of those things, just say I’m sorry. Because I am sure you have even if you are unaware of it. It would be nice if we were already angels wouldn’t it? Now, that we are past that we can move forward. Our behavior is so important in our spiritual growth and development. We have to get to the point where we behave in a God like manner no matter what the circumstance is or who that one person who seems to get under our skin the most is. Ultimately we must realize that it is not a person, a circumstance or incident working against us, it is the flesh. When we maintain our composure and exhibit the Fruit of the Spirit that God has commanded us to exhibit we are overcoming our sinful nature. Not only that we are also overcoming our feelings, our emotions and our flesh. When we master that then we will begin to exercise godly character. In order to exhibit Godly character we must know, study and meditate on the Fruit of the Spirit. The Fruit of the Spirit is the nine biblical attributes as Christians we need in order to behave like mature believers. Take note that the Fruit of the Spirit is not plural but singular and collective. They sum up the true character of a Christian. The nine attributes are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. These are not individual fruits left up to us to pick and choose the one or two we feel like exhibiting or that mesh well with our personalities. They are nine-fold and are what all Christians should be producing daily. Below are some biblical principles that will bring all the attributes together. If we study and meditate on these biblical principles as the nine-fold fruit collectively we will begin to understand how they all relate to one another and begin to build the Godly character we are called by God to demonstrate.

Love – “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Through Jesus Christ, our greatest goal is to do all things in love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Joy — “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Be Happy {in your faith} and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always) 1 Thessalonians 5:16.

Peace — When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7). Peace I leave with you; My {own} peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. {Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled} (John 14:27).

Longsuffering — We are “strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Colossians 1:11). “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).

Gentleness — Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2). A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. (Proverbs 15:1)

Goodness — “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9). And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another (Romans 15:14).

Faith — For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:17)

Meekness — A meek and quiet spirit is of great price in the sight of God (1 Peter 3: 4). “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).

Temperance — And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love (2 Peter 1:5-6)

When we see all the Fruit of the Spirit together and how they relate to one another we should realize that they are nine-fold and relate to each other collectively. These biblical principles tell us what a Christian’s character should be in totality and what should exude brightly from a Christian’s life. Meditate on the Fruits of the Spirit often and collectively. You can’t have one fruit without the others! Just like you can’t pick and choose what biblical principles you will obey and which ones you will loosely interpret. Everything about God is one for all!

Blessings,
Rhonda

What are your plans for tomorrow, next week, next month or next year? Are you a planner? Got everything mapped out? Well God’s Word says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that we should set priorities in our lives and set goals for ourselves. I know that without planning to a certain extent we can loose focus and not maintain a clear vision of where we want to go. I believe that God wants us to live purposefully and not just sit back in a relaxed posture and let things happen all around us. There is nothing wrong with planning, but we must know what the word of God tells us about our present and our future. Even as we plan we must ensure that we seek God’s guidance for the decisions we make in our lives. We have to be open to any changes to our plans and willing to re-evaluate our plans when necessary. First and foremost we need to seek Him while we are establishing our plans. To lay out our plans without praying and seeking God’s guidance and counsel is devising a plan that more than likely is out side of His plan. The bible tells us emphatically that God’s plans will prevail over any of our plans. The word prevail means to gain victory or superiority or to dominate. Telling us that His plan will be victorious and superior over anything we plan no matter how great we think our plans are. As you make your plans be flexible; change is simply God leading us in the right direction and setting us on the right path. It is inevitable. His plan is perfect and our plan derives from the tiny picture that we are allowed to see. God sees the entire picture from the beginning to the end. He is the alpha and the omega and knows the beginning and the ending. If you can compete with that then continue to make your plans, follow them and see how quickly you will be saying, what in the world or how in the world did I end up here when I specifically set out to be somewhere totally different. It’s not a mystery; it is the Master’s plan. A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

The hope of Jeremiah 29:11 is that we serve a faithful God who directs our steps and will always keep His promises. The Bible tells us that God is not a man, that He should lie; nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19). Jeremiah 29:11 are the words Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the elders of the exiles, to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar forced out of Jerusalem to live in Babylon. The words Jeremiah sent are the promises of God that assured the Jews in Babylon that He had not forgotten them. God tells Jeremiah to tell the exiled Israelites that He has a plan for them–that he has a plan to prosper them and give them hope and a future. The hope of Jeremiah 29:11 for today is that He has everything planned and have laid out His promises for our lives. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:20). You can count on the promises of God because Jesus is saying, “Yes” and “Amen” to them on our behalf. Let us pray that we will be open and receptive to the plans God has for our lives and have the assurance that God’s promises are Yes and Amen. In between the Yes and Amen, LET US PRAISE!

God Bless,
Rhonda

EC will be available at Harvest Christian Books & Music Stores starting 15 Aug 09:
Three locations:

14401 Telegraph Road
Woodbridge, VA
(703) 490-4040

Ballston Common Mall
4238 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA
(703) 248-0499

Manassas Mall
8300 Sudley Road
Manassas, VA
(703) 257-5939