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!