Take My Hand Inspirations
Fruit of the Spirit Series
THE FIRST FRUIT: The
Fruit of Love
Consider
your Christian life like a plant; and Jesus Christ as the Sower. From the Introduction: Like a Tree Planted (Blog #15), we trustingly embraced the knowledge that when we
give our hearts to Christ, He opens our hearts and plants His seeds of whatever things are true, whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever
things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there
is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on
these things . . . and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians
4:8-9).
As
you allow these seeds to germinate with the watering of God’s Word in your
mind’s thoughts (and emotions/feelings stored in your heart), YOUR SOUL
(therefore, your life) becomes rooted in Christ: That
Christ may dwell in your hearts [soul] through faith; that you, being rooted
and grounded in love, . . . may be filled with all the fullness of God
(Read Ephesians 3:17-19).
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God
(Romans
12:2).
In
Christ you are rooted. Though the
pressures of life shall buffet and battle against you, you are given the
strength and steadfastness to stand strong; not shake and wither unto
death. Think about plants and wind and
rainstorms. After the torrential blasts
of the storms, you find that many tall, luscious, sturdy plants have fallen
heavily to the ground never to recover again.
In
life, those who do not have the
seeds of Jesus implanted in their souls, come crashing down no matter how
majestic they appeared before the storms.
BUT YOU STILL STAND, more vibrant and ever beautiful after the raging torrent than before you
were tossed and twisted and beaten and bent.
Why?
Because HE LIVES IN YOU. And He’s in
love with you, because HE IS LOVE. God
is love. We all “know” that. Now it’s time for you to believe that God-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit-is
love.
Bitterness,
grief, anger and not getting answers to questions you have that troubled your
logical mindset have made you put our Lord Jesus Christ at a distance. You just can’t see the love. You have listened to “For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life” in John
3:16 so many times, it has become insignificant in your thoughts. You’ve put
this phrase at the ‘back of your mind’.
But take a moment to meditate on this: Who said these words? When did He say it; and to whom?
Jesus,
Himself, the Son of God, spoke these words only moments away from His own
crucifixion,- that ultimate sacrifice, symbol, undeniable outreach of bear nakedness - not only to Nicodemus, but to
all
those who believe in Him, in the Love that would redeem us sickly
sinners back into feeling His agape
again.
Think!!!!
Bring it to the front of your mind. What does this mean to you and me today?
Nicodemus
was a man of Scripture. He realized who
Jesus was (John 3:2) and came to Him to get peace for his troubled soul vexed
and perplexed by unattainable answers to his carnal mind’s questions. Isn’t
that how we feel sometimes, even now? We
see and hear about so much strife, conflict, confusion and everything out of
order; how can our human experience ever allow us to understand what true love
is? Why did Jesus share John 3:16 to a soul on the way to conversion?
Because,
in our conversion, or new birth (being born-again), we must pass through God’s
portal, or womb, into the spiritual realm called love. As we adopt our earthly father’s genetic
make-up (We may have our father’s eyes or hair colour, etc.), so, too, do we
adopt our Heavenly Father’s attribute of agape love (Reflect on 2 Timothy
2:7). In other words, we also must be
love because when we become God’s children, we must resemble Him. And with Jesus, who is the FIRST FRUIT, we also become heirs of our
Heavenly Father’s Kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:23).
 |
| Because He died for you, so that you may live in Him. |
Only
love can take away all the pain in your soul.
And love is energy; it passes into you and out of you like an electrical
current. Allow God’s Love, in Jesus
Christ, to freely flow through you and fill you up in
all fullness. Then and
only then can you pour that love from your own heart into the lives of others (including
those who’ve really hurt you) with patience and forgiveness.
Now
sing with the saints: “LOVE LIFTED ME, LOVE LIFTED ME. WHEN NOTHING ELSE COULD HELP, LOVE LIFTED ME.”
In
our next conversation, get ready for sharing the Joy of God’s Fruits.
© 2017 by Take My Hand Inspirations, a
division of PepParadise Society Ltd Publishers.
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quotations are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas
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