The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance—
Galatians 5:22-23

In your mind’s eye, put two trees side by side–a Christmas and an apple tree. On the one, ornaments are hung awhile, thenand then removed. On the other, the ornaments are not ornaments at all, but real fruit growing naturally from within.

Some people are Christmas trees. They try to wear love like an ornament. They try to be joyful by their own efforts. They grudgingly try to be patient, kind, or gentle. They take a class in self-control. But without the indwelling of the Spirit, it’s like hanging artificial ornaments on a dead tree. For the Christian, however, the character-qualities of Jesus Christ are produced within us by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit exhibits the love, joy, and peace of our Lord Jesus from within us as we walk in the Spirit.

The Bible often compares believers to trees (Psalm 1:1-3; Jeremiah 17:7-8).  Let’s bear much fruit for His glory!

I cannot have joy, and peace, and long-suffering, gentleness, goodness and faith and meekness and temperance by myself.  I have no power. But this Holy Spirit…is the one that gives me the power to love.  He gives me the joy.  He gives me the peace.  He gives me the patience.  He bears fruit in my life.
Billy Graham  ( From Turning Point)

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding – Proverbs 3:5

The more you know God, the more you will trust God. What is there not to trust? He is completely loving, wise, powerful, and good.

But it is one thing to express a belief in God, and another to actually trust in Him with all your heart. Trusting the Lord with all your heart means walking out, by faith, on His Word, no matter what consequences or opposition you may face.

Trusting God wholeheartedly also means resolutely refusing to lean on your own understanding. This, of course, does not mean that we are to give up the sound mind and reasoning spirit that God has given us. But it does mean that we are not to rely on our limited knowledge, experience, and emotions to guide us safely through life.

The question to ask yourself is this: do you trust God in precisely those places where your natural inclination is strongest against His leadership or direction or commandments? When the Bible clearly spells out His counsel, will you take it regardless of your personal preferences or preconceptions?

It is precisely at those places where we are least inclined to listen to or follow God that we are most able to show our devotion to Him and our trust of Him. Is there an area of your life today in which you have opportunity to trust in the Lord, rather than in your own understanding?(From “A Good Thing”)

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” —Galatians 6:9 

George Muller is a well-known Christian in stories of faith and prayer. Muller ran an orphanage in Bristol, England, where he cared for over ten thousand orphans throughout his life. Most noted are his prayers of provision. Many times Muller would wake up to an empty kitchen and barren cabinets. He would gather the children to the table and direct them in a prayer of thanks for the food God would provide. Numerous stories are told of the different ways God blessed their faith with food to eat.

While many stories are told of the immediate answers to Muller’s prayers, rarely mentioned is the one prayer he prayed for nearly his entire life. As a young man, Muller had five friends who were unsaved. After his conversion, Muller felt a burden for the salvation of his friends, so he began praying for his friends to accept Christ. After a few months, one of his friends accepted Christ’s salvation. Rejoicing in his friend’s decision, Muller felt an even greater burden to pray for the remaining four lost friends. Although he prayed each day for them, ten years elapsed before two more of his friends were saved. The next friend was not saved until twenty-five years later. Although four of his five friends were now saved, Muller never gave up on his last friend, praying for him for fifty-two years. Muller’s persistence was rewarded as the last friend finally accepted Christ at Muller’s funeral.

Muller never gave up on his friends. He pressed on daily. Even though he didn’t see an immediate answer and actually never saw the complete answer to his prayer, he continued to faithfully pray every day.

Muller exemplified Galatians 6:9 by never giving up hope that his prayers would be answered. Even so, if we desire to see prayers answered and right living blessed, we must press on. Daily we are given the opportunity to sow righteousness through making right choices and living godly lives. We are also given opportunities to sow unrighteousness through living for self. God promises that if we daily choose to live for Him, “In due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Have you ever noticed that sometimes unrighteous living or wrong choices don’t seem to have immediate consequences? Sometimes people who follow the world seem to have an easier path, yet notice what God says in Psalm 37:1-3, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” Rather than becoming discouraged when others’ wrong actions seem to go unpunished, press on in daily sowing righteousness.

God encourages you to keep making right decisions and choosing to follow Him. Choosing right over wrong won’t always be easy. Sometimes following God will take great strength and courage, but God promises, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Do you ever feel discouraged by the choices of others? Remember God’s encouragement to keep making right decisions despite the decisions of others. Even when doing right is tough, press on. Even when following God is unpopular, press on. Even when choosing righteousness doesn’t yield immediate blessings, press on. God promises that as you press on in choosing to follow Him daily, you will reap more blessings than those who follow their own path. As you are faced with decisions today, remember that your future depends on the choices you make today. Choose God’s path.(Daily in the Word)

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  …  We love him, because he first loved us.” (I Jn. 4:10,19) 

Current generations have grown to be a society of reactionist.  By this I mean that for the most part folks wait for others to act then they will react to whatever action the other person initiates.  We have become a tit for tat, a measure for measure society.  We have become afraid to initiate good will towards others.  We spend our time waiting – “If they don’t do ________ first, then I’m not going to do it either!”  Sound familiar?  We have created a society of intolerable arrogant reactionist brats.  Sadly, this has spilled over into the churches and has inflicted an erosion of the Biblical principle of motiveless Christian love toward others.  Many wrongfully assume unprovoked Christian love to be a relic of ancient antiquity.  The majority of the population holds to the “reaction to the action” philosophy.  Is this the way of God?

I sure am glad that God did not wait around for me to love Him before He loved me!  If He had, I would still be lost in my sins and condemned for all eternity.  “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” (Rom. 3:10-11)  The Apostle John said, “not that we loved God, but that He loved us,” also, “he first loved us.”  If God had waited on us to love Him, we would have no hope whatsoever of entering into His forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  We would most certainly perish!  Our heavenly Father took the first initiative towards us – that is, out of His grace He acted toward us with divine love without us having to first provoke Him into love. 

Perhaps the Father’s children ought to emulate the actions of the Father.  Society as a whole expends it time waiting to react to the actions of others.  As Christians we ought to imitate God, not waiting about for others to provoke us into loving them.  Our actions of love should not depend upon someone else expressing love first.  If one wants to be loved then he must be the first to initiate the act of love.  Oh how things would change in our society, work places, churches, families, and homes if we would act with an unprovoked first love instead of waiting to react after the scrutinizing of motives.–Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.