His Fruit

John 14:27 (TPT) “I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!“

God wants you and I to be peaceful; lasting peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, God’s gift to us. You may be experiencing intense pressure, but you remain peaceful in your core and the people around you are puzzled. By the grace of God, there is nothing that keeps me up at night, nothing! I am totally grateful to God for His gift of peace, lasting peace. This does not mean that there aren’t seasons where I am under pressure and the clock seems to be ticking in every direction. I have had my share of those but regardless of what it is, I take to God and I leave it there. Once I have prayed about it, for me that is it. The rest is up to God. The question is are you willing to trust God? If your answer is yes, then pray and let God be God.

All the hours you have spent not sleeping, spent worrying, has the problem been solved? The truth is that worrying cannot solve that challenge before you. Take it to God and allow His peace to rule your heart. When you take it to God, resolve to leave it to God. Philip.4:4-7 “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!  Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” This is both powerful and important.

The fourth component of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is Patience. Long-suffering [patience] is so important and it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Hab.2:3 “This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.” Heb.6:12 “Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.”

The next component of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is Kindness. God wants us to be kind. But beyond that, He, the fruit of kindness is in us and He expects that this kindness flows to other people. We have to be kind-hearted. Sometimes, some of the most difficult people to live with are Christians because some Christians are just totally mean. That is not the Spirit of God. If you are not sure if you are mean or kind, ask the people you do life with. The question is, am I a kind person? On a scale of one to ten how kind do you think I am? If they say zero, do not get upset, just know that there is work to be done. You need to allow God to breathe upon you. Eph.4:32 “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” Kindness is so important, and it is a part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer [Hymn]: Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Amen!