God Wants Fruit, Not Nuts!

I had tweeted last week about starting "worship services" on my blog, and here I begin! Don't be afraid to give me any criticism, or any ideas on things you want me to write about or songs you want me to include! These "services" are to help YOU find time in your week, besides just on Sunday, to spend time with Christ, worshiping Him.

I'll set up these like a normal service (at least for me, at my church!) is run. Starting with music, welcome, more music, some prayer, some more music, a sermon, and end with even more music! I feel like listening and singing to worship songs is the best way to meditate on the week's sermon! I hope you enjoy!

This song may be a Christmas song, according to the album, but I love it! Let your soul magnify the Lord, He has done great things for you! Come and worship, do not be afraid!

We must live our lives for Christ. We must be full reflections of Him for everyone around us. By letting God consume us, we can fully live out His plan. You can say you love God, but that just shows on the outside. Loving God and LIVING how He wants us to live can only happen when we allow Christ to consume us from the inside out. Not only does our love for God show on the outside, but people can see we are Christians from simply how we carry oursevles and act around others.

If anyone has any prayer requests, feel free to leave them in the comments, email me, or shoot me a DM/tweet on Twitter! Take this time now to pray, let God know your wants, your needs, your struggles. Thank Him for all He has blessed you with. Listen to His voice, let Him speak to you. (You can play the following video in the background if you wish, or sing along with it after!)

Now, let's continue worshiping together with one more song before the sermon!

"It's my joy to honor You in all I do..." -- such powerful lyrics. Christ died for us. The least we can do is honor Him every single day, in our words, in our actions, and in our thoughts. God wants us to show the world that we are His children. God wants us to live a life honoring Him, not a life full of sin and acts of the flesh. The only way they will know we are His, though, is if we live in a way that honors Christ. One way, to start, is to strive to live a life full of the Fruits of the Spirit...

The image above is a shortened version of a quote seen on church signs, among various other places, I assume. God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts. God doesn't want us to live our lives shoving our relationship with Him down the throats of others. He doesn't want us to judge others for their sins. He wants us to lead others to Him through the Fruits of the Spirit. Now, in the weeks to come, we will take an in-depth look at each of the individual Fruits, but today let's look at them as a whole.

What are the Fruits of the Spirit, you ask? Fruits of the Spirit are the qualities one must have to live in a Godly character. These nine qualities (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) allow us to turn away from sin, from dishonoring God, and allow us to show the world what God has done for us and how He has been working in our lives. Without the qualities listed above, would you be able to tell if someone was a Christian?  Honoring God is so much easier when you are living proof of His love, which can be characterized through the Fruits of the Spirit.

Now, in order to fully understand the place the Fruits of the Spirit have in our lives, we must start with the things that God wants us to stay away from. After all, if we are to honor Him, why would we want to fall into things that lead us off the path He has created for us? Let's take a look at Galatians 5:19-21:

 Living in these acts of flesh leads us living lives of the world. We need to put these things aside, far far away, so that we can focus on our Savior. Yes, many of these things are difficult to push out of our lives, but we need to rid our lives of the things that tempt us to act in an ungodly manner. Our lives should honor and glorify Jesus by allowing Him the authority to direct it down the path He has chosen for us, leading to Heaven.

If we let these acts of flesh take over our lives, we will be led by the devil, the enemy, Satan himself, down the path to Hell. Sure, maybe that sounds dramatic...but the decisions we make (or choose to ignore) will eventually lead our lives on a path in one direction or the other. Why would you want that, when you have a Father who loves you waiting for you in Heaven, who loves you even if you turn your back on Him? Why live these acts of flesh, living for yourself, when you can follow the Fruits of the Spirit, living for God, and gain so much more -- eternal life? Turn away from these acts of flesh, and turn to the Fruit of the Spirit. Let's now look at Galatians 5:22-23:

God wants us to live by these qualities. If someone were to describe you, they should use these words! Throughout the Bible, gardening is often used as a metaphor for our spiritual growth. Just as plants either grow and bear fruit, or are starved from nutrients and die, believers either grow in their relationship with Christ, producing the good things of God, or they lack spiritual "food" and die. In Galatians 5, Paul is describing what fruit a righteous tree bears. A man (or woman!) of Christ carries these qualities with him/her from day to day, just as a righteous tree bears fruit. When we truly follow Christ, we more easily live out these fruits, turning from the acts of flesh, and honoring Him in our day to day lives.

By living the Fruits of the Spirit, we, as Christians, ARE Fruits of The Spirit. Fruits are nature's way of spreading seeds. We, by producing the Fruits Paul speaks about in Galatians 5, are the fruits of Christ, sharing His word, spreading His love. If we give our lives fully to Christ, we will bear these Fruits of the Spirit that Paul talks about, and more easily be able to spread God's word to others. The world will no longer look at us as religious nuts, but as spiritual fruit. Let yourself be filled with God's love, turn your life over completely to Him, so that you can bring God's word into the world, spreading seeds of faith.

 Right now you're probably thinking, "ummm, nuts are fruits, too." But let's compare a nut to, perhaps, an mango, or a pineapple. A nut has a hard shell that does not open to release the seed. Other fruits more easily release seeds. God does not want us to be nuts. Nuts, like the Westboro Baptists, have a hard shell and aren't willing to change because, they way they see it, they are right. They shove Christianity down the throats of others and go far past extremes. Nuts don't share God's love. When we are fruits (aside from nuts, of course), we share the love of God with the world.  When we are fruits, we spread the word of God with the Fruits of the Spirit inside of us, planting seeds in our society. How to keep from being a religious nut? Allow for God to use the Fruits of the Spirit in you.

Now, you may say, "I can't live like that!" "I make mistakes all the time," "I am far from a patient person," "it is hard for me to love everyone," even "I can't be happy all the time!" but the Fruits of the Spirit that God has given us through Paul are not a daily checklist to fulfill. The Fruits of the Spirit aren't even necessarily something to strive for. When you let God take over your life the changes just...happen, the acts of flesh just...fade away, the Fruits just..develop. Often times, we may not notice the changes that are happening. However, those around you will.

Trust God, let Him work in you. Apples, grapes, pineapples, strawberries....these things just don't grow over night. They all starts as seeds. Once you put the seeds in the ground and take care of them, they grow. Fruits of the Spirit work in the same way in you, in all of us. Once God is in our lives completely and we take time to nurture our relationship with Him, these qualities will slowly develop inside of us, changing us for the better.

Even with the Fruits of the Spirit living in us, we may still fall down sometimes. But that's okay. We're human, we make mistakes, and just living on Earth we are prone to sin. Want to blame someone? Blame Adam and Eve! Even if we mess up, God still loves us. God is still working on us. If we confess, He is faithful (1 John 1:9). Unlike bananas, oranges, lemons, etc, the Fruits of the Spirits never die, never rot. The Fruits of the Spirit will always continue to grow and develop inside of us once we give our lives completely over to Christ. God is never done working on us, until we set foot in Heaven.

Pray with me:
Abba, Daddy, I love you. I thank You for all the blessings You have given me. You truly are a great God. Help me to grow daily in the Fruits of the Spirit You have presented to us through Paul. I know I may not be perfect, but I know that these Fruits will never stop growing inside me, because You are always working on me, bringing me towards perfection. Let my heart be Yours, as I let You take over, allowing me to show the Fruits of the Spirit to the world. Amen.

Let's close today with a jam that will get your juices flowing, ready to face the world and show them what God has done!

Thanks for joining me in praising and worshiping our amazing God! I hope that this message touched you in some way, and that it helped you to grow closer to Christ. If you have ANY comments, questions, or suggestions, PLEASE feel free to contact me through Twitter or email! I would love to chat with you! I pray that you have a blessed week... Next week we will be talking about LOVE!

Living God's Will

In today's society, it is very difficult for Christians to block out the world and to follow strictly what God wants for us. It's so easy to fall into striving for our wants, though what God wants is so much more important.

Isaiah 55:9
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Living by God's word will get us so much further than living how society may want us to live. Living by God's will keeps us on His path. Ignoring that causes us to easily get knocked off the path Christ has made for us into the prickers and fallen branches, causing us to get stuck, trip, and fall.

2 Corinthians 4:18
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
By focusing on Christ, we can follow His path with no probelm, and we will end up spending eternity with Him. However, when we fall off that path, we are stuck with temporary happiness. This is so relevant in relationships. The relationships we have with our friends, with our boyfriends/girlfriends are nothing compared to the relationship that Christ wants to have with us. When all else fails, God will still be there for us. His love is everlasting, it will never ever go away no matter how far we stray. But when we focus on the world, we are not able to fully experience His love for us.

Romans 12:2
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
By living how the world wants us to live, we cannot see what God wants for us. We so easily are blinded by what we want and what the world wants that we cannot see clearly what Christ wants for us. When we focus on our relationship with God and how He wants us to live, we will clearly see what He wants for us. We will easily make it down the path of life that He sees for us. Without His light in our lives, we stray from that path, blinded by the darkness of the world.

Phillipians 4:8
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is pure, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."
God wants us to think clean, pure thoughts. If we think of things in a sinful nature, we cannot live purely. By thinking of truth, purity, and praiseworthy things, we can easily live life in a Christ-like manner.

1 John 2:12-29

Starting our bible study up again! Let's jump right in.

Verses 12-14

I am writing to you, dear children,
    because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 

 I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome the evil one. 

 I write to you, dear children,
    because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God lives in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.

^{In this passage, John explains why he is writing: because God forgives us, because we know God, because, with God we have overcome the devil, because we are strong and we live by God's word.}

Verses 15-17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^[a] is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

This passage says we cannot love both the world and Christ. We have to choose one or the other, but God is the better choice. Everything in the world takes away from us being able to be with Him forever. If we love God and forget about the world, He will take care of everything and we will be able to live with Him forever.

Verses 18-29
 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.  As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

This passage begins with talking about those who may have left the church or never belonged to the Church in the first place and who are trying to bring us down with them.  These people want us to love the world. These people want us to leave our relationship with God behind for the things the world is offering us, the things that will lead us off of God's path for us.There are people out there that believe that being a Christian means following God's rules and that's it. But we must also have a relationship with Him. John then goes on to explain that the anti-christ is anyone who does not believe in Christ, which I had explained earlier. We, those who believe in Jesus and have a relationship with Him, are surrounded by the Holy Spirit at all times and know the truth. John, in this writing, is trying to warn us of those who will try to tempt us off God's path onto the path of the world. By leaving His path, we can easily get caught in the prickers and trip over the fallen branches. John is also saying that we don't need anybody to teach us anything, we already know it. If we truly trust God, we know that He will take care of anything, and by listening to what others may try to tell us, we can be lead astray. John ends this chapter saying that by continuing in Christ we will be confident and ready when He returns, and that we will know that others are Christians by the way they act.
  

The Bachelor - Week 2

I'm baaaccckkkkk! I know I haven't posted a blog in what feels like forever (it HAS been a few months), but I've been super busy and life just catches up to you sometimes, ya know? So, I've decided to blog about The Bachelor. It's so full of worldly things, but there's so many lessons one can take away from this show, which I affectionately call my guilty pleasure. This season started with 26 girls fighting for Sean Lowe's heart. To the surprise of most, he is a strong Christian, which makes me lovey him even more! 

The first one-on-one date of the season went to Sarah!! I love love LOVE this girl. Compared to the other girls, she is so real and down to earth and just an all-around sweetheart. Sean arrived at the mansion and the two traveled, by helicopter, to a skyscraper where they free-fell to a champagne toast! How terrifying! That's something I would never do, even if I was trying to win Sean's heart! Sarah said she'd "jump from wherever" with Sean by her side...not me! After their free-falling adventure, Sarah and Sean enjoy some wine and conversation. Sarah gets the rose, obviously, and a kiss! Sean said the date had surpassed his expectations and that Sarah gave him butterflies! How cute. :) Sarah is definitely at the top of MY list of the girls I'm rooting for this season.

Then comes the group date.... I felt the tension building and drama starting from the moment they read the date card. This week, Lesley M., Kristy, Amanda, Brooke, Daniella, Catherine, Robyn, Katie, Selma, Diana, Kacie, Tierra, and Taryn went on the group date. They arrived at a BEAUTIFUL estate where they participated in a photo-shoot with Sean for Harlequin Models. There was a competition on this date, and whoever won (had the best chemistry with Sean in the pictures) would model for 3 book covers! How exciting. In the end, it came down to Lesley M. and Kristy, with Kristy winning the contract. After the photo-shoot, the girls and Sean went to a pool party...but they all complained that it was cold? Sean said the rose would be given to the girl who made the biggest impression on him, which may have been a hard choice! One lesson girls watching this show should quickly learn is that gossip gets you NOWHERE! It just creates drama, lots and lots of drama. Katie felt unhappy and uncomfortable, and decided to leave the show. Although many may have thought she was awkward, she is a great example for girls! She wasn't happy, so she left -- if you're in a relationship and you aren't happy, run! Run fast! Sean gave the rose to Kacie.I

I love Kacie, too! I believe that Sean and Kacie are a good match. They share the same beliefs, which may help them in the long run! From how the majority of the girls act, I can tell that many of them don't have the class and morals that Sean is looking for! Yes, living with that many girls isn't easy, but you don't need to be two-faced and rude!

Desiree got the second one-on-one date. Sean thought it would be fun to pull a prank on her, and she handled it so well! They then went back to his place for dinner. It was very simple, how most dates should be! I can tell that this relationship may go far, too. They are on the same page, which is a good starting place, and they really have chemistry! I thought it was funny that Desiree got revenge on Sean for his prank by hesitating when he gave her the rose! 

Now, onto the cocktail party. Lindsay was worried because she didn't get a date, but they are starting to form a connection. I, personally, thought Amanda looked like a mess and came off negative. It's understandable that she's only there for Sean, but there is no need to be fake! Living in a house with so many ladies requires some friendship making, and she is not doing that! I really loved how Robyn came right out and asked Sean if race was a factor in choosing a girl. She asked really good questions, but I'm not sure she will last that long! I also really liked how Selma taught Sean how to say "you are very beautiful" in another language! So cute, and I think they may have something! 

This week, Brooke and Diana went home. I love that Sean respected Diana enough to realize that she had 2 little girls and there was no reason to keep her around if they didn't have a connection already. I wasn't surprised when Brooke was sent home, she didn't really seem to put herself out there that much and wasn't all that memorable. 

Remaining Ladies:
Desiree
Sarah
Kacie
AshLee
Lindsay
Robyn
Jackie
Lesley M.
Selma
Catherine
Kristy
Leslie H. 
Tierra
Taryn
Daniella
Amanda (what?!?!?!?!?!)

I'll be (hopefully) live tweeting and blogging next week! It all depends on how I feel though - I'm getting my wisdom teeth out Friday morning!