"He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing...By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples." John 15:6 & 8
"Weeds are anything in your life that is taking up valuable resources but does not produce fruit." - Pastor Brady Boyd
I so want to be someone who is not caught up in the things of the world. My spirit longs for the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and life in His Spirit. I love the quote above about the weeds in our life. Pastor Brady goes on to say that these weeds are not necessarily bad things; they are just using us up without any good produce. Great sermon - watch or listen to "The Law of the Farm" here: New Life Sermons.
Pray for me tonight, as I struggle through the worldly decisions of life, that I will remain "unspotted from the world"; that I may bear good and acceptable fruit from the resources of the Holy Spirit.
Rachel and I, as I wrote a few posts ago, are partaking in The Whole 30. It's basic purpose is to take 30 days to eat only things that produce good things for our body. We're learning that this is so true in our lives as well. Rachel has been reading! Our hope is that our lifestyle, as well as our diet, begins to feed us with things that only produce good fruit. Sometimes we have to do natural things so that we can better understand the spiritual things (1 Corinthians 15:46). I'm thankful that the Lord is showing us spiritual things as a result of taking care of our natural things.
So I say, get in shape! I said it. Get off your butt and go work your body out. Make it hurt; discipline it unto subjection (1 Corinthians 9:27). When you learn how your body grows in strength and endurance, you'll also learn how your spirit and mind grow in strength and endurance. Use your resources for the things that produce good fruit. Lord, help us to see with Kingdom eyes, that we may partake in Kingdom activities, thoughts, and prayers.
P.S. - this is a good song: I Will Exalt
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Selfish Pursuit
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38
I've recently pulled out my old journals that I write in during my time spent with the Lord. If you were to read through them, you may think I'm a little selfish. You'd be right! My desire for the past 6 years has been to selfishly pursue the nature of God. It hasn't been about praying for others or learning what is right and wrong. If anything, those things have often gotten in the way of my pursuit of Him.
Please don't misunderstand, we should often pray for one another and should seek to do what's right in the sight of God. But we can't start there. We must learn to press through the "wind and the waves" of life to see Him and learn His nature. We must learn to use the gift of a sound mind to focus all of our thoughts on Him.
From that place of intimacy with Him will flow all prayer and righteous living. As the Scripture at the top says, we must first go to Him, then the living waters will flow into the avenues of life. Selfishly pursue the nature of God. Know Him for yourself. Don't let anyone else tell you about Him (as I am doing right now). Go and see.
Remember, intimacy with God is right now, not yesterday and not tomorrow. It must be found in the moment with no agenda of my own or thoughts of what I must do today or even who I must pray for today. Pray that God will teach you to live right now and not worry yourself with the next thing. God's Presence is just that; present; now; present tense. When we learn to live in the present tense with God and seek His nature, we will be greatly refreshed as we immerse ourselves in His Spirit.
I've recently pulled out my old journals that I write in during my time spent with the Lord. If you were to read through them, you may think I'm a little selfish. You'd be right! My desire for the past 6 years has been to selfishly pursue the nature of God. It hasn't been about praying for others or learning what is right and wrong. If anything, those things have often gotten in the way of my pursuit of Him.
Please don't misunderstand, we should often pray for one another and should seek to do what's right in the sight of God. But we can't start there. We must learn to press through the "wind and the waves" of life to see Him and learn His nature. We must learn to use the gift of a sound mind to focus all of our thoughts on Him.
From that place of intimacy with Him will flow all prayer and righteous living. As the Scripture at the top says, we must first go to Him, then the living waters will flow into the avenues of life. Selfishly pursue the nature of God. Know Him for yourself. Don't let anyone else tell you about Him (as I am doing right now). Go and see.
Remember, intimacy with God is right now, not yesterday and not tomorrow. It must be found in the moment with no agenda of my own or thoughts of what I must do today or even who I must pray for today. Pray that God will teach you to live right now and not worry yourself with the next thing. God's Presence is just that; present; now; present tense. When we learn to live in the present tense with God and seek His nature, we will be greatly refreshed as we immerse ourselves in His Spirit.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Whole Food
"...he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." Galatians 6:8
Rachel and I just began an food challenge called the Whole 30. We are only able to eat meats, eggs, fruits, nuts, and lots of veggies. Not too bad really, but I didn't realize how much sugar and grains I was taking in. The basic idea behind the plan is that you cleanse yourself of things that aren't "whole". After the cleansing you begin to feel like you have a new body - you realize that you were sick and didn't even know it because it felt normal.
Of course, I'm going to go spiritual with this. Galatians 6 talks about sowing to the flesh vs. sowing to the Spirit. Our culture has conditioned us to think that constant worldly concerns and activities are what we are supposed to be putting our time into (yes, I mean TV, Facebook, and 401ks). It's normal and everyday routine so we aren't realizing that the things we're feeding our spirit are making us sick. We're sick and we don't know it.
"God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" Galatians 6:7. We fool ourselves and mock God in the process by thinking that we can spend all of our time on the computer or watching TV and still reap a lifestyle that lines up with a disciple of Christ. If you eat twinkies all day, you will get fat and sick. The substance of what you take in will show itself in the fruit of your life, good or bad.
Think about your day; how much of your time, thought, and energy is sown to the world, and how much is sown to the Spirit? Are you eating the twinkies of life that the world says is normal? The fruit of the Spirit is born out of seeds sown to a lifestyle in the Spirit. It is a constant sowing to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Let's eat the good whole food of the Spirit of God.
"Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live..."
Isaiah 55:2-3
Rachel and I just began an food challenge called the Whole 30. We are only able to eat meats, eggs, fruits, nuts, and lots of veggies. Not too bad really, but I didn't realize how much sugar and grains I was taking in. The basic idea behind the plan is that you cleanse yourself of things that aren't "whole". After the cleansing you begin to feel like you have a new body - you realize that you were sick and didn't even know it because it felt normal.
Of course, I'm going to go spiritual with this. Galatians 6 talks about sowing to the flesh vs. sowing to the Spirit. Our culture has conditioned us to think that constant worldly concerns and activities are what we are supposed to be putting our time into (yes, I mean TV, Facebook, and 401ks). It's normal and everyday routine so we aren't realizing that the things we're feeding our spirit are making us sick. We're sick and we don't know it.
"God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" Galatians 6:7. We fool ourselves and mock God in the process by thinking that we can spend all of our time on the computer or watching TV and still reap a lifestyle that lines up with a disciple of Christ. If you eat twinkies all day, you will get fat and sick. The substance of what you take in will show itself in the fruit of your life, good or bad.
Think about your day; how much of your time, thought, and energy is sown to the world, and how much is sown to the Spirit? Are you eating the twinkies of life that the world says is normal? The fruit of the Spirit is born out of seeds sown to a lifestyle in the Spirit. It is a constant sowing to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Let's eat the good whole food of the Spirit of God.
"Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live..."
Isaiah 55:2-3
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)