Participants: Jill Morikone
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000156A
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00:22 Hello and welcome to A Sharper Focus.
00:24 My name is Jill Morikone. 00:25 We're so glad that you have joined us here this evening 00:28 and so glad our Thompsonville family, 00:30 Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:32 that you're here as well. 00:33 And you at home, you're a 3ABN family 00:35 and part of our family here, 00:37 and we're so glad that you're tuning in. 00:39 It's Wednesday night, it's Bible study time, 00:41 so I hope that you have your Bibles at home. 00:44 I want to encourage you to check out the website, 00:47 asf.3abn.org. 00:50 You can get the videos, you can look at past videos, 00:54 you have all of the study guides 00:55 on that as well. 00:56 So I want to encourage you to check that out. 00:58 And as we open up, we'll look at the scripture, 01:01 and then we'll go to the Lord in prayer. 01:03 So let's go to John 15, 01:07 we're talking tonight about the fruit of the Spirit. 01:12 John 15, now you might say, 01:14 "John 15 doesn't sound like the fruit of the Spirit. 01:16 We ought to be in Galatians 5." 01:19 But there's a method to this. 01:20 John 15, we're going to look at verse 5 through 8. 01:24 Jesus speaking... I love these chapters. 01:27 You think, Jesus... 01:29 John 13, He washed, remember, 01:31 the disciples feet and the upper room, 01:34 they had that upper room experience, 01:36 and then after that, He went out 01:38 toward the garden of Gethsemane. 01:39 Now John 14, 15, 16, and 17 01:44 is what I think of as His last will and testament 01:48 because John 18, He starts going to the cross. 01:51 So this is almost like His last time 01:54 with His disciples. 01:55 Now He did have another time after He was resurrected, 01:58 He had time to share with them, 01:59 but in the special way, before He went to the cross, 02:02 it's His last words with His disciples. 02:04 And you imagine, if you were a parent 02:06 and your child was going off to war, 02:08 what would you want your very last words to be, 02:10 Brother Louis? 02:12 What would you want to say to your daughter 02:14 before she goes back to college? 02:15 What would you want to say? 02:17 And so this is part of what Jesus wanted to say. 02:20 John 15, it talks about the vine and the branches. 02:24 We're in verse 5, 02:26 "I am the vine, you are the branches. 02:29 He who abides in Me, and I in Him, 02:33 bears much fruit..." 02:36 There is the word we're talking about tonight, 02:37 Gavin, fruit, fruit bearing. 02:40 "For without Me, you can do," a lot of things, 02:45 "nothing." 02:47 Without Me, you can do nothing. 02:49 "If anyone does not abide in Me, 02:51 he is cast out as a branch and is withered. 02:53 They gather them and throw them into the fire, 02:56 and they are burned. 02:58 If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, 03:03 you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 03:06 By this, My Father is glorified, 03:09 that you bear much fruit, so shall you be My disciples." 03:15 I have written in the margin of my Bible, abiding, 03:19 that's what we're talking about, 03:20 the vine being connected, the branches, 03:23 being connected to the vine, abiding. 03:25 Abiding precedes fruit bearing. 03:29 In order to bear fruit, we have to abide, 03:32 we have to be connected with the sap, 03:34 with Jesus Christ flowing through us. 03:36 Let's pray. 03:38 Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus. 03:40 We thank You for Your Word. 03:43 We thank You for our family here 03:45 and our 3ABN family at home. 03:48 And right now, Lord, You know I'm but a little child, 03:52 and I just pray that You would get me out of the way, 03:57 that You could empty me of myself and, oh, Father, 04:00 that Your Word would come alive, 04:03 and that You would speak and give us ears to hear. 04:06 In Jesus' name, amen. 04:10 I was probably 20 years old, young, college age, 04:15 and we did something that maybe you've done at home 04:17 called a tug of war. 04:19 Has anybody ever played tug of war? 04:22 So I asked for volunteers ahead of time. 04:24 We're going to have Abby and Josh come up. 04:27 They are Reston and Argie's kids here 04:30 at our Thompsonville Church School and church. 04:34 And I have a tow rope down here, 04:36 or maybe it's not even a tow rope. 04:38 I got it from Will Wharf today. 04:39 I said, "You have a big, thick rope for me?" 04:41 So here is Will's big, thick rope. 04:43 You want to grab one end? 04:44 Abby, you want to get on this end, sweetie? 04:47 So let's pretend pull. 04:51 Who's going to win? 04:52 Pull. Ooh, your sister's strong. 04:56 Okay, pull, Josh, come on, pull. 04:58 Okay, now we're going this way. 05:01 Pull, okay, 05:03 now I think Josh is being kind to you right now. 05:08 I think josh is... Thank you so much. 05:11 I think Josh was being kind to you. 05:12 So you saw they went back and then forth 05:16 and then back and forth. 05:17 That reminds me of something 05:19 we're going to read about in Galatians 5. 05:22 But before we read that, I want to tell you the story. 05:24 When I was 20, we had a tug of war, 05:26 similar to what you guys tried, but in this tug of war, 05:29 it was a very long rope. 05:30 We can't do that on camera. 05:31 It was like from this end of the room 05:33 all the way to the other end, 05:34 and there were many people tugging. 05:36 So I was on this side, and I had, you know, 05:38 how you put your feet and you plant them, you know, 05:40 and you try to put your weight, and you pull, okay? 05:43 And there was probably 12 of us on this side pulling. 05:47 Now I want to tell you what happened on this side. 05:49 It was not my side. 05:51 The other side, now I don't know if I can do this 05:53 because we bent... 05:55 We folded up this rope. 05:57 Let me see if I can find the end. 05:58 Do you guys see an end to this? Here it is. 06:01 So this guy, he was a big guy. 06:06 Now here at 3ABN, we would say 06:07 Dave Everett's a big guy, right? 06:09 Brother Louis Capote tall, broad, right? 06:13 Strong, barrel-chested. So he was a big guy. 06:17 He was young, 20, 25. 06:19 So he took the rope like this, and he went, 06:22 right, have you seen that? 06:23 And then he just leaned his weight into it. 06:27 So you know what happened? 06:29 All of us, puny people, on this side of the rope, 06:31 I'm pulling my hardest. 06:34 And you know what happened? 06:35 We were dragged, just like that, 06:36 across the line, over here, just like that. 06:41 I couldn't do anything about it. 06:43 And I felt like a little kid. 06:45 Yeah, I did gather, 06:47 just like my feet are just sliding in the dirt, 06:50 and it was kind of muddy, 06:51 and I couldn't do anything about it. 06:53 That reminds me of the war of the flesh 06:58 and the war of the spirit. 06:59 We see that in Galatians 5. Let's go there. 07:03 Galatians 5, we're going to start with... 07:08 I think it's verse 16. 07:10 We talk about that battle. 07:12 Galatians 5:16, 07:18 "I say then, 'Walk in this spirit...'" 07:21 Continually think about Christ, 07:24 and "You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.'" 07:28 Walking in the spirit, Arabella, 07:30 is like an antithesis to walking in the flesh. 07:33 They're two different things. 07:35 Now I imagine the guy 07:36 who was at the end of the rope who was tied 07:39 would be like me feeding myself, okay? 07:42 So walk in the spirit, 07:46 and we don't want to fulfill the flesh. 07:49 Now what happens when I feed myself, 07:51 when I indulge my self-pity, my pride, 07:58 my selfishness, my arrogance, what happens? 08:02 I start to grow taller, broader, bigger. 08:06 And in the battle between the spirit and the flesh, 08:11 the flesh starts to win. 08:15 We're in verse 17. 08:17 "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit..." 08:19 It's like a tug a war, we're talking about here. 08:22 "And the Spirit against the flesh, 08:24 these are contrary to one another 08:28 so that you do not do the things you wish 08:31 but if you are led by the Spirit, 08:33 you are not under the law 08:35 or not under the condemnation of the law." 08:38 You ever wake up in the morning, and you think, 08:40 'God, I'm going to serve You today, 08:42 and I'm so excited." 08:43 And all of a sudden, 08:45 maybe I've been feeding the flesh over here, 08:47 and He's grown to quite a big guy. 08:49 And I'm over here saying, 08:50 "I'm going to serve You, Jesus." 08:52 And He gives a tug on the rope, and what happens? 08:54 I'll go falling in the mud over here. 08:57 We're talking about the works of the flesh, 09:00 the fruit of the Spirit, 09:01 or you could call it self-centered living over here, 09:05 self-centered or flesh-filled living. 09:08 On this side would be spirit-filled living 09:12 or other-people centered living. 09:14 So on this side, the self-centered, 09:16 we would be controlled by passions. 09:20 It doesn't sound very pleasant, but I have been there. 09:23 On this side, we are controlled by what? 09:28 You got it, Cynthia, 09:29 the spirit, controlled by the spirit. 09:32 On this side, I am a slave to sin. 09:37 On this side, I died a sin, died a self. 09:44 On this side, it shows or reveals the fruits of sin. 09:50 On this side, it reveals, 09:53 you got to rest at the fruit of the Spirit. 09:58 On this side, I walk in lust. 10:03 This side, I walk in love, 10:08 self-sacrificing love. 10:12 On this side, I walk in idolatry to myself, 10:17 focused on myself. 10:19 On this side, I live for other people. 10:24 Really, it's living for Jesus, and when you live for Jesus, 10:28 you're going to automatically live for other people. 10:32 Let's look briefly at the works of the flesh, 10:34 and then we want to spend our time 10:35 on the fruit of the Spirit. 10:37 We don't want to give the devil too much credence here. 10:39 But the works of the flesh are verse 19 to 21. 10:43 I don't think it's exhaustive list. 10:46 It does not list every single sin there is, 10:49 but it's an illustrative list. 10:50 It gives us an illustration of some of the sins, 10:53 some of the works of the flesh on this side over here. 10:57 In my mind, they're divided into five different categories. 11:00 The first would be sensuality, sexuality. 11:04 We see that. 11:06 "Now the works of the flesh are evident, 11:08 which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness..." 11:14 Or that could just mean impurity. 11:17 My Bible says... 11:18 I have New King James, it says, "Lewdness." 11:21 Or unbridled lust. 11:24 That's not saying, "I'm going to have a thought once a day 11:27 or once a week." 11:29 Unbridled would mean... 11:31 What do you think, Tracy? 11:32 Pretty consistent, right? 11:34 Consistent, constant. 11:37 The next category, idolatry. 11:41 Anything between... 11:43 Anytime I feed, 11:45 something between God and me. 11:48 It could be myself. 11:50 You can make yourself an idol. 11:52 It could be something else. It could be your spouse. 11:54 It could be your children, 11:56 your money, anything, job, 12:00 position that we hold between us and God. 12:03 We hang onto that, idolatry. 12:07 That's the second category. 12:08 Third category, sorcery, 12:12 could be superstition, witchcraft. 12:17 Bible says, "Rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft." 12:21 Next to last category, sorry, 12:22 fourth category is really selfishness, 12:24 and there's nine things listed here. 12:28 "Hatred, contentions, 12:31 jealousies, outbursts of wrath, 12:34 selfish ambitions, dissensions, 12:39 heresies, envy, murder." 12:43 To me, a lot of those come under selfishness. 12:47 If I envy Yannick because of his very fancy bike, 12:51 now that's kind of a joke here because Yannick, 12:53 that's his mode of transportation, right? 12:56 Yannick rides the bike, and you ride your bike. 12:58 Yannick can bike for miles. 13:02 Three thousand miles a season. 13:03 That's incredible! 13:05 He's very in shape. 13:06 So if Yannick... 13:08 I were to envy his bike, his mode of transportation, 13:13 what would I be doing? 13:15 I am selfishly wanting something 13:18 that belongs to Yannick, right? 13:20 Hatred, if I have hate in my heart for someone else, 13:24 what does that do? 13:25 Thinking about myself really, that's selfishness. 13:28 The last category is really intemperance. 13:33 "Drunkenness and revelries." 13:37 So this whole list, "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, 13:40 lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, 13:44 jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambition, dissensions, 13:49 heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, 13:51 revelries, and the like..." 13:52 So he means etcetera. 13:53 There's more than that, etcetera. 13:56 "Of which I tell you beforehand just as I told you in time past 14:00 that those who practice such things 14:04 will not inherit the kingdom of God." 14:07 If the Word of God stopped there, guess what? 14:10 I'd be discouraged. 14:11 Would you be discouraged? 14:14 I look at that list of God, 14:16 "I don't want to feed the man here 14:18 who was wrapped with a cord and who was growing, 14:20 and I don't want that, but I'm powerless. 14:24 I can't change my heart. 14:28 God, I don't know what to do." 14:30 It doesn't stop there. 14:32 The Bible says, "But the fruit of the Spirit..." 14:33 And we're going to get to the fruit of the Spirit. 14:35 Before we do that, 14:37 Jeremiah 13:23, what does the Bible say? 14:41 Can the Ethiopian change his spots? 14:44 The leopard change his spots? 14:45 Or the Ethiopian change his skin? 14:47 Uh-uh. 14:49 Then may we also do good 14:50 who are accustomed to doing evil. 14:52 The Bible is saying, "God knows, 14:55 you can't change your heart. 14:56 God knows I can't change my heart." 14:59 It takes His divine, supernatural work. 15:03 I'm going to look at just a couple of verses, 15:05 and then we'll go to the fruit of the Spirit. 15:06 Let's turn to Ezekiel. 15:10 Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel 36. 15:19 Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Ezekiel 36. 15:24 I think this is one of my favorite passages 15:27 in all of the Bible. 15:28 Ezekiel 36:25, 15:33 "Then," God's speaking, 15:36 "I will sprinkle clean water on you, 15:40 and you shall be clean. 15:44 I will cleanse you from all your filthiness 15:46 and from all your idols." 15:49 Sometimes I feel like I'm down in the mud, 15:52 you know, this tug of war battle 15:54 and I'm dirty and in the mud, 15:56 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, 16:01 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 16:05 and to cleanse us from all," 16:08 that's right, "all unrighteousness." 16:12 God wants to cleanse us. 16:13 He says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, 16:16 and you shall be clean." 16:18 That's a promise. 16:19 You shall be clean. 16:21 Verse 26, "I will give you a new heart 16:25 and put a new spirit within you. 16:28 I would take the heart of stone 16:31 out of your flesh 16:33 and give you a heart a flesh." 16:36 Sometimes I don't even want to follow God. 16:39 Have you been there? 16:40 You say, "God, I'm not even sure 16:43 I want to ask forgiveness 16:44 because you know I was right." 16:47 "I'm not even sure I want to do that." 16:50 And God says, "I know that. 16:52 I can take out the heart of stone. 16:54 I can take out, that's right, 16:56 I can take out the desires that are against Me, 17:00 and I can put in your heart a heart of flesh." 17:04 Verse 27, "I will put my spirit within you 17:08 and cause you to walk in My statutes," 17:11 or in the fruit of the Spirit, we could say, 17:13 "And you will keep My judgments and do them. 17:17 Then you would dwell in the land 17:18 that I gave to your fathers, 17:20 and you shall be My people, 17:22 and I will be your God." 17:24 That verse gives me courage. 17:27 That verse gives me hope. 17:28 God wants to change us. 17:31 And He's the one who does it. 17:32 He's the one who reaches into your heart 17:34 if you give Him permission. 17:36 "Take out the heart of stone," and says, 17:38 "I will give you a heart of flesh." 17:41 I want to look at one more verse 17:42 before we go to the fruit of the Spirit. 17:45 Turn with me to Romans 13. 17:48 Romans 13... 17:55 I am in 1 Corinthians. 17:58 Romans 13:14 says, 18:04 "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ 18:08 and make no provision 18:11 for the flesh to fulfill its lust." 18:15 In other words, I'm not going to feed the guy 18:17 at the end of the rope over here. 18:18 I'm not going to make any provision. 18:21 Sometimes it's a difficult decision 18:25 that could change the music you listen to, 18:27 the TV you watch, the movies you see, 18:31 the people that you surround yourself with 18:33 as your friends in school, 18:35 changes all that 18:36 because everything that we look at, 18:39 put in our minds, listened to, changes it, 18:42 either feeds the flash and grows that in our life 18:47 or it feeds the spirit. 18:51 So let's look at those fruit of the Spirit. 18:52 And it's interesting, 18:54 we're going back to the Galatians 5. 18:55 It's interesting to me, 18:57 the Bible called them works of the flesh. 18:58 Did you notice that plural, works with an S? 19:02 There's many, but when it talks about the fruit of the Spirit, 19:05 it's a singular. 19:07 The fruit of the Spirit 19:11 because all these fruit... 19:13 There's nine of them, 19:14 all of them come naturally as a result 19:18 of God's work in our heart, 19:20 nothing to do with me trying harder. 19:24 It's everything to do with allowing God 19:27 to come into my heart, allowing God to change you, 19:32 letting Him put in the heart of flesh, 19:34 choosing to feed the spirit and not feed the flesh, 19:40 choosing to let Him work, remaining connected. 19:42 We started with John 15, 19:43 remaining connected to the vine, 19:46 letting His sap flow through us 19:48 and then the fruit automatically comes. 19:51 So we are in Galatians 5. 19:58 Thank you. 19:59 That's right, 22, 20:02 "But the fruit of the Spirit..." 20:04 We'll read them, and then we'll go back. 20:05 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace..." 20:09 Don't they even sound different, 20:11 the way the words sound 20:12 compared to the works of the flesh? 20:14 "Love, joy, peace, longsuffering," 20:18 or you could say patience, 20:20 "kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 20:23 gentleness, self-control, 20:27 against such, there is no law.' 20:32 Let's look at the fruit of the Spirit of love. 20:34 The word here, the fruit of the Spirit is love is... 20:39 Anybody know what the word is? 20:42 Agape. 20:43 Agape in the Greek. You got it. 20:47 You know, in the Bible, there's different types 20:49 of Greek words for a love, right? 20:51 You have eros which would be a romantic love. 20:54 "I think he's kind of cute," right? 20:56 Okay, romantic love, then you have phileo, 20:59 which would be friendship. 21:02 You are my friend. 21:04 Then we have agape. 21:06 Now agape love seeks 21:09 the highest good of the other person. 21:11 It's not concerned with how I feel. 21:12 It's not concerned with 21:14 if loving you is easy for me or not. 21:18 Many times agape love costs the person. 21:22 It can be painful and difficult for the person 21:25 who has agape love for the other person. 21:28 It's God's type of love. 21:30 The fruit of the Spirit is love. 21:33 How do we love our brothers and sisters? 21:37 How do we love those who God puts in our life? 21:42 That's right. 21:43 There's three ways, at least in my own experience. 21:46 And they all start with the letter A. 21:47 So if you're taking notes, 21:49 how do I love like God wants me to love? 21:52 First is, ask. 21:55 Ask God for His love. 21:57 We can't conjure up His type of love. 22:00 I can't grit my teeth and say, 22:02 "I'm going to be kind to Arabella." 22:04 Now she is precious, 22:06 so you could not be anything but kind. 22:08 But I couldn't grit my teeth and say that, right? 22:11 Only God can give us His type of love. 22:15 Turn with me to 1 John 4. 22:18 1 John 4, I love 1 and 2 John. 22:22 1 John 4, 22:24 really the whole book of 1 John talks about God's love for us 22:27 and the love He wants us to exhibit, 22:29 exemplify toward our brothers and sisters. 22:33 1 John 4:19, 22:37 "We love Him because He first loved us." 22:41 We can't love... 22:43 We can't have God's agape love for anybody 22:46 unless God put it into us. 22:49 So I think we ask God for His love. 22:51 That's number one. 22:52 Number two, we accept His love by faith. 22:57 Love is a principle. 23:01 We don't love by feeling, 23:02 whether I feel love or not, what happens? 23:05 I can choose with my mind to react out of love, 23:10 and God is going to bring the feelings along. 23:12 They come eventually, maybe not in the beginning, 23:15 but they come. 23:16 You think about 1 Corinthians 13, 23:18 the love chapter, 23:19 the principles in that, they're really choices. 23:23 Did you notice that? 23:25 1 Corinthians 13 isn't a lot about how that makes me feel. 23:29 It's about love is kind. 23:31 Kindness is a choice. 23:32 Love is patient. 23:35 Patience is a choice. 23:36 Love does not envy. 23:39 That's a choice. 23:40 Making the choices of love, 23:42 our feelings always follow our thoughts. 23:45 And if we choose to bring our thoughts into line 23:47 with what God's Word says, what happens? 23:50 He would change our feelings. 23:53 He would change them. 23:55 Number three, we actively reach out in loving ways. 23:58 So first, we just ask God, "God, give me Your love." 24:01 Number two, we accept His love by faith, 24:05 and number three, we actively reach out in loving ways. 24:09 I remember, I was... 24:11 I walked into a room, this was several years ago, 24:15 and a woman had her back to me 24:17 over on the other side of the room. 24:20 And there was a whole group of people. 24:22 And she was talking to them, 24:23 and I was just coming through the door jamb, 24:25 you know, just coming into the room. 24:26 And I thought, 24:28 "Oh, that's nice. I'll go join her." 24:29 And just as I came through the door, 24:32 I figured out she was talking about me, 24:36 and it was not real kind. 24:40 Cutting, belittling, 24:44 and I just stopped like, 24:47 "She really is saying that to all these people." 24:51 And I know these people, and I don't think it's true, 24:55 at least, God, I hope it's not true. 24:58 And so I turned around, and I ran out to the car, 25:00 and I just stood there, and I cried. 25:05 And then I said, 25:07 "God, I don't know how to deal with this. 25:09 I thought she was my friend. 25:12 I don't know how to love her. 25:15 I can't." 25:17 And so I did what I thought was the Christian thing to do. 25:23 I did not gossip about her to other people. 25:27 That is a Christian thing to do. 25:28 I didn't say, "You know, Gary, so and so said this about me. 25:32 And can you believe that she said that?" 25:34 I didn't do that, okay? 25:36 But my heart was not right. 25:40 You know how you can have the outward trappings 25:42 of what you're supposed to do as a Christian 25:44 and how you're supposed to act, 25:46 but internally you're not right with God? 25:51 But what happened in that experience was 25:54 I did not even know I wasn't right with God. 25:57 Isn't that weird? 25:59 How we can be so self-deceived, 26:02 the works of the flesh were growing? 26:04 I was pulling on this side of the tug of war 26:07 instead of the fruit of the Spirit of love, 26:09 and I didn't even know it. 26:12 I thought, "I'm doing okay. 26:14 I'm not gossiping about her." 26:16 As if that's the only thing in life. 26:19 And one day, I was working on memorizing the scripture text. 26:22 I love to memorize scripture 26:24 because the Word of God is powerful. 26:26 It would change you. 26:28 Claiming the promises of the Word of God changes you. 26:31 And I was working on Hebrews 12. 26:33 It says, "Follow peace with all men and holiness 26:37 without which no one shall see the Lord." 26:39 And I'm scrubbing plates, right, 26:41 doing dishes at the sink. 26:42 And above the sink is the window, 26:44 you know, you look out. 26:45 And there was... 26:47 My scripture was taped up there so I could read the scripture, 26:49 I could practice memorizing as I'm, you know, doing dishes. 26:53 So I'm scrubbing plates, 26:55 follow peace with all men in holiness 26:57 without which nobody shall see God. 26:58 "Oh, thank You, God, 27:00 I'm walking in peace with my brothers and sisters." 27:02 I didn't even know I had hard feelings really. 27:05 They're so pushed down. 27:07 Then the next verse jolted me out of my complacency, 27:12 "Looking diligently lest anyone fail of the grace of Christ, 27:17 lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, 27:22 and thereby many people be defiled." 27:24 And the Holy Spirit at that moment not an audible voice 27:27 but spoke to my heart and mind internally and said, 27:30 "Jill, what you're holding against your sister, 27:35 sister in Jesus, is going to ruin your walk with Me. 27:41 It's going to ruin your marriage. 27:43 It's going to ruin your ministry. 27:46 Do you want that?" 27:47 And I said, "God, I don't. 27:50 But I can't love her. 27:52 I don't know how to love her." 27:55 So God led me, I asked, remember, 27:57 we talked about ask God for His love. 27:59 I asked God for His love. 28:00 We'll call her Janie. That's not her name. 28:02 I asked for God's love for Janie. 28:05 I accepted His love by faith, but to be honest, 28:07 I didn't feel any different. 28:09 I actively... Number three, 28:12 actively reach out in loving ways. 28:14 And underneath that, to me, is praying for the person. 28:17 And so I began to pray. 28:19 I prayed the first morning, 28:20 "God, I ask that You'll bless Janie 28:21 and give her a good day-to-day. 28:23 And I just ask that 28:24 You would bless her marriage and her ministry 28:27 and give her financial blessings, 28:29 give her good health." 28:30 And, you know, as I prayed that, 28:32 guess what happened? 28:33 I felt fake, like I wanted, 28:35 "Oh, God, couldn't You curse her just a little bit, 28:38 you know, maybe she could have a car accident 28:40 and break a leg or something," right? 28:42 And so God says, "No, I want you to pray blessings." 28:45 "Well, I don't want to." 28:48 But I can make a choice. 28:49 Remember, we talked about, love is a principle, 28:52 love is not a feeling. 28:53 "God, I make a choice. 28:54 I prayed these blessings over her life." 28:57 And I felt fake, but I did it anyway 29:00 because that's what God's Word asks us to do. 29:03 Day one, nothing happened. 29:04 I did it the second day, nothing happened. 29:06 I did it the third day, nothing happened. 29:09 Fourth, and I don't remember, it's been so long. 29:12 How many days into it? 29:14 And all of a sudden, I was praying the same prayer. 29:16 "God, bless her and give her spiritual blessings 29:19 and financial and health and..." 29:22 And God took the pain off. 29:26 It was like a knot pulled off from my back, 29:30 and I felt free. 29:34 And I left her, not just in principle, 29:38 not just because God had said, 29:39 "You're supposed to love Janie." 29:42 But I loved her inside. 29:44 And you know what? She's my friend today. 29:48 That's what God can do, 29:49 actively reach out in loving ways, 29:52 pray for the person, ask God for a specific way 29:55 you can reach out in love. 29:59 Maybe there's unlovable people in your life tonight, 30:01 make a list. 30:02 God knows who they are, but make a list, 30:04 and then actively reach out in love, 30:08 ask God for His love, 30:09 accept His love by faith, 30:11 and actively reach out in love for that person. 30:14 And you know, sometimes 30:16 the unlovable person is ourself, right? 30:19 Sometimes the hardest person to forgive 30:22 or to accept or to love is yourself. 30:25 You can be kind to everybody else, 30:26 but how could God love me? 30:29 I'm such a mess. 30:30 And yet God says, "I love you." 30:33 Due to same principle. 30:34 So fruit of the Spirit is love. 30:37 The next fruit is joy. 30:40 In the Greek, the word for joy 30:42 is C-H-A-R-A or chara. 30:47 I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. 30:49 Chara, and it means simply joy, gladness, delight. 30:55 You know, there's a difference between happiness and joy. 30:59 Happiness is dependent on outward circumstances. 31:02 So if I wake up in the morning, 31:04 and I feel like the days going well 31:06 and the sun shining... 31:07 I always feel better when the sun shines. 31:09 So I was just being honest. 31:10 So if the sun is shining, 31:12 and if, you know, someone says, 31:14 "Hi," to you at work and treats you well 31:16 and whatever, then, "Oh, it's a good day." 31:19 That's happiness. 31:21 That's dependent on what goes on around us. 31:23 But joy, true joy that comes from Jesus is divine. 31:28 It's not dependent on whether the sun shines. 31:31 It's not dependent on whether 31:32 your spouse says a nice word to you that morning. 31:34 It's not dependent on whether your boss is happy with you 31:37 or upset with you. 31:38 It's not dependent on any of that. 31:40 True joy is not the absence of trouble. 31:45 It's the presence of Jesus Christ. 31:48 Psalm 16:11 says that. 31:50 If you want to turn with me, 31:51 we'll come back to our Galatians 5 in a minute. 31:54 Psalm 16:11, 31:57 "True joy is not the absence of trouble. 32:01 It is the presence of Christ. 32:05 Psalm 16:11, 32:06 "You will show me the path of life. 32:09 In Your presence is fullness of joy. 32:13 At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." 32:16 Did you notice? 32:17 Where do we have fullness of joy? 32:19 In the presence of Jesus, in Your presence, 32:24 His fullness of joy. 32:26 I have a friend. 32:28 We'll call him Billy. 32:29 That's not his real name. 32:31 And Billy hurt himself. 32:35 And he had to go to the hospital for a surgery. 32:37 So Greg and I went to go see Billy in the hospital. 32:39 And, you know, when you go to see someone in the hospital, 32:41 what's your objective? 32:45 Yeah, you got it, Louis, make them feel better, right? 32:47 That's your objective. 32:48 You want to encourage, bring some sort of cheer. 32:51 That's the point of going to see someone in the hospital. 32:53 So we went to go see Billy and pray with him. 32:56 And so we walked in, and he said, 32:58 "Oh, how are you doing?" 33:00 We said, "No, no, no. 33:01 How are you doing?" Right? 33:03 "We came to see you. 33:04 How are you doing?" 33:05 "Oh, it's just wonderful. 33:07 I'm just praising the Lord." 33:09 And I thought, "Wait a minute, you're in pain. 33:12 You're having surgery." 33:13 "Oh, but the Lord gave me opportunity to witness. 33:17 I witness to the nurses and the doctors. 33:20 And I'm able to share Jesus and..." 33:23 And that encouraged me, 33:25 and I came out of the hospital thinking 33:26 I went to bring courage to him, Brother Dan, 33:29 but I was encouraged myself. 33:32 And then a couple days later, another friend talked to me. 33:35 And she said, "Oh, did you go see Billy." 33:37 And we said, "Yeah, well, 33:39 I went to go see her in the hospital." 33:41 She said, "Oh, was he happy?" 33:43 And I said, "Absolutely. 33:45 It blessed me so much." 33:47 And she said, "Oh, some people are just like that. 33:51 Some people are naturally happy. 33:53 Some people are born that way." 33:55 And you know what? I do not believe that. 33:59 Joy, just like love, is a choice. 34:03 It's the presence of Christ. 34:05 It doesn't mean your life is going good. 34:07 It doesn't mean you don't have trials. 34:10 What's it tell us in James? 34:11 Count it all joy 34:13 when you fall into various troubles, 34:14 count it joy. 34:17 Nehemiah 8:10, "The joy of the Lord is my strength." 34:22 Do you need strength? 34:23 Choose God's joy. 34:25 So how do we cultivate joy? 34:26 We talk about cultivating love. 34:28 How do we cultivate joy? 34:29 In my experience, there's been three steps to cultivating joy. 34:34 First is to surrender. 34:37 Surrender my thoughts, surrender my sadness, 34:41 surrender my dreams, 34:44 surrender my control 34:46 over this situation to God. 34:51 Greg and I walked through 34:54 a painful valley 34:58 maybe 10 years ago. 35:01 And I remember when the doctor called 35:06 and with the news. 35:08 We've been going through all these tests 35:09 trying to find out stuff. 35:12 And the doctor called with the news. 35:15 And I remember... 35:17 It's been a long time ago, so now it's like, 35:19 "Oh, wow, was that painful?" 35:20 You know, how God works in your heart, 35:22 and it just totally takes it out. 35:24 But at the time, it was very devastating. 35:27 And I remember, Greg was at work, 35:28 I couldn't call him, 35:30 I was actually kneading bread dough, 35:31 so my hands are all goofy with the bread, 35:33 and you're trying to hold the phone like this, 35:35 and the doctor's... 35:37 Wow, and so I remember, 35:39 I just put the phone down, 35:40 and I just blindly ran out of the house. 35:44 And it was springtime, April, I think, 35:48 the leaves are just unfurling their green, 35:51 you know, the sky was blue, and the birds were singing. 35:55 And I couldn't see that. 35:57 I couldn't hear that. 35:58 I couldn't sense that, all I felt was like pain. 36:03 "God, this is the devastation of everything I ever wanted." 36:07 And He said, "Jill, my daughter, 36:09 count your blessings." 36:12 And I thought, "Boy, you're asking a lot, God. 36:15 I want some pity, give me some pity. 36:19 I'm hurting, just a little pity, 36:22 you know." 36:23 And He said, "Count your blessings." 36:26 And I said, "Okay, God. 36:30 First of all, I will surrender my dream to You. 36:35 What I thought I wanted in life, 36:37 I'll give it back to You. 36:40 Then I'm thankful I have a godly husband. 36:42 I'm thankful I have friends. 36:43 I'm thankful I have a church family. 36:46 I'm thankful for ministry. 36:47 I'm thankful for Jesus." 36:51 Pretty soon, you know what happened? 36:54 My heart began to change. 36:56 The pain... 36:57 Now I'm not saying there wasn't still pain, 36:59 but the sharpness of the pain began to pull out. 37:03 And I could hear the birds, 37:04 and I could see the green leaves, 37:06 and I could breathe the springtime air. 37:11 So I think 37:13 what God wants us to do 37:15 when we cultivate joy is to surrender. 37:18 First of all, I just surrender, 37:21 identify the source of my pain and sadness. 37:23 "God, I wish I could be married." 37:26 Maybe some people want to be married. 37:28 "And, God, you're not bringing me a spouse." 37:32 "God, I want kids, and I can't have kids." 37:35 "God, I wish my spouse would love me again." 37:38 "God, I wish I wasn't going through a divorce." 37:41 I mean, this is real stuff. 37:43 God, I wish I wasn't losing my house." 37:47 "I wish I could pay my bills." 37:50 You know, when we minister with the women in jail, 37:52 "God, I wish I wasn't going to jail." 37:54 Okay, you can't control any of that, right? 37:56 That's all beyond our control. 37:58 So identify the source, acknowledge, 38:00 "But I can't do it. 38:03 I can't control the situation. 38:06 I'm surrendering it to You, 38:07 and I will trust You 38:09 whether I get what I want or not." 38:12 It's choosing to trust Jesus with our life, we surrender. 38:16 We practice His presence. 38:18 That's number two. 38:20 Practice His presence. 38:21 We already read that verse in Psalm 16:11, 38:23 "And Your presence is fullness of joy." 38:26 Practicing the presence of Jesus is a choice. 38:31 Practice makes permanent. 38:34 You know, I taught piano, you know, for 10 years, 38:37 and I used to tell my kids, 38:39 "Practice does not make perfect." 38:41 You know, how they say that, practice makes perfect? 38:44 But it really doesn't. 38:45 It just makes permanent. 38:46 If you always play the wrong note, well, 38:48 then you're going to practice the note wrong. 38:50 And you're going to learn the note wrong, 38:51 and it will be permanently ingrained in your brain wrong. 38:54 So practice makes permanent. 38:56 So if I choose to bring my heart, 38:58 my mind in line with what God's Word says, 39:02 what happens? 39:04 It changes the structure of the brain. 39:07 Greg and I were in a zoo... 39:09 Not in the zoo. 39:10 We were visiting at the zoo. 39:12 Clarification, 39:13 we were at the zoo 39:15 visiting the animals in the zoo. 39:17 And so we were walking by, 39:18 and I like the big cats, you know. 39:21 So there's the tigers and the leopards and the lions, 39:24 and for some reason I just like that animal. 39:27 And so there was a leopard, I forget his name. 39:29 He was a certain type of leopard. 39:30 And when we were standing there, 39:32 he's in his cage, and he had a big cage. 39:35 Now I don't like any animal in a cage. 39:37 It's just... 39:38 I want Jesus to come, 39:40 you know, there'd be no more the lion 39:41 and the leopard and all be together. 39:44 But he was in his cage, it's fairly large cage, 39:47 but you know what happened? 39:49 He walked up the side of the cage, 39:50 and he turned around, and he came back, 39:53 and then he turned around, and he came back. 39:55 And you know what had happened? 39:57 The grass was worn through, 40:00 then there was a brown strip, 40:03 you know, right against the edge of his cage, 40:06 then there was a rut like this. 40:11 And that was because... What had he done? 40:14 Over and over, back and forth, back and forth. 40:18 So what I choose to think about... 40:21 I can wake up and say, 40:22 "God, so and so didn't treat me well, 40:24 and it's a cloudy day, 40:25 and I'm going to have a bad attitude." 40:28 Right? I can choose that. 40:30 And if I think that today, 40:32 and then I think that tomorrow, 40:34 and I think that the next day, what happens? 40:37 The rut in my brain, the grass disappears, 40:41 I get a brown path, 40:42 and then I get a rut thinking that way. 40:45 Now I can choose to change, 40:47 "God, I thank You for the gift of Jesus." 40:50 "Wow! I'm stepping out of the rut." 40:52 "God, I thank You for the work You're doing in my life." 40:55 That's another step out of the rut." 40:57 "God, I think You that You can give me Your joy." 41:01 That's another step out of the rut. 41:03 And as we choose to think differently, 41:05 what happens? 41:07 The grass grows over the old way of thinking, 41:10 and pretty soon, a new rut begins to emerge. 41:13 But it's a rut 41:15 based on the fruit of the Spirit, 41:16 instead of reacting in the work of the flesh. 41:21 So first, for cultivating joy, we surrender. 41:23 Second, we practice His presence, 41:25 and third, we give thanks. 41:28 I already talked about that a little bit 41:29 with the story me walking down the road 41:31 and God said, "Count your blessings." 41:33 But turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5. 41:40 1 Thessalonians 5... 41:46 we're going to read verse 16, 17, and 18, 41:50 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. 41:57 In everything, give thanks 42:00 for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 42:05 Now that does not mean 42:07 that we're thankful for everything 42:08 that happens to us. 42:10 Of course, there's painful experiences in life, 42:12 but we can be thankful in the midst of everything. 42:18 J. Hudson Taylor, missionary, 42:20 founder of the China Inland Mission, 42:22 he did some tough stuff in his life. 42:24 And remember, when he went to China, 42:27 he'd been there a while. 42:28 It seems like he went back to England, 42:30 and then he came back to China, he had his wife, Mary. 42:34 Their five-year-old son, Samuel died 42:37 January of the year. 42:40 That'd be painful. 42:41 They say to lose the spouse is horrible, 42:44 and I've not gone through that. 42:48 But to lose a child, 42:50 it's supposed to be the worst of all. 42:53 Buried his five-year-old son Samuel there in China. 42:57 Then in July, 42:59 his wife gave birth to a brand new baby, 43:03 and he died. 43:05 And just after the baby died, his wife died. 43:09 She was 33. 43:12 So at 38, he's facing now... 43:15 If anyone had a right to feel pain, sorrow, 43:20 okay, you'd say, "He earned a pity party." 43:23 Not earned it, 43:24 but he could deserve one, right? 43:26 And you know what he wrote in his journal? 43:28 "I'm so thankful 43:30 that I get to serve Jesus 43:34 one more day." 43:38 "I'm so thankful 43:39 I get to serve Jesus one more day." 43:42 I want to look at Habakkuk 3. 43:45 We're not going to make it through all the fruit, 43:46 but we'll just get as far as we get. 43:48 Habakkuk 3, 43:51 that's one of those little minor prophets, 43:53 a little difficult to find. 43:55 Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, 43:58 Habakkuk 3:17, 18, and 19. 44:05 "And though the fig tree may not blossom 44:08 nor fruit be on the vines, 44:11 though the labor of the olive may fail, 44:15 and the fields yield no food, 44:19 though the flock may be cut off from the fold, 44:22 and there be no herd in the stalls." 44:25 Now their livelihood was agriculture 44:27 and agrarian as in stocks. 44:30 So not stock in bonds as an animal stocks. 44:34 So everything in their society had crumbled. 44:40 Now we look at it and say, "Okay, the fig tree, well, 44:42 I can live without a fig tree," right? 44:43 But for them, this was their livelihood. 44:47 Though all that's gone, no way out, 44:51 "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 44:55 I will joy in the God of my salvation. 44:59 The Lord God is my strength. 45:02 He will make my feet like deer's feet, 45:04 and He will make me walk on my high hills." 45:08 I wrote in the margin of my Bible, 45:10 "I want to still praise Him 45:13 when everything seemingly goes wrong." 45:19 Yes. 45:20 Yes, that's right. 45:22 So that's what God wants to do, give thanks, praise Him. 45:26 The fruit of the Spirit is love, 45:27 the fruit of the Spirit is joy, 45:30 the fruit of the Spirit is peace. 45:35 The Greek word is eirÃni. 45:38 And it means peace between individuals, harmony, 45:43 concord, living in harmony and peace with others. 45:48 Turn with me to John 14. 45:50 John 14:27. 45:57 John 14:27, 45:59 this is part of that Jesus' last will and testament 46:02 where He gave there, we talked about it 46:04 at the beginning to the disciples 46:06 before He went to the cross, "Peace I leave with you, 46:09 My piece I give to you, not as the world gives, 46:14 give I unto you. 46:16 Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." 46:22 There's something different about God's peace 46:26 than the peace that we naturally have in the world. 46:30 I think it's similar to the difference between... 46:34 We talked about happiness and joy. 46:36 One is based on earthly circumstances, 46:38 the other one's divine from Jesus. 46:40 And I think the same thing about God's type of peace. 46:43 It comes from Him, from above. 46:46 How do we get that peace? 46:50 Romans 5, Romans5:1. 46:54 There's many scriptures we can turn to, 46:56 but I like this one especially. 47:01 Romans 5:1, 47:05 "Therefore having been justified by faith, 47:09 we have peace..." 47:10 There's our word, 47:12 "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 47:18 Peace comes when I'm reconciled to my Heavenly Father. 47:22 I think that's why God's peace is so different 47:27 from the peace that the world gives 47:29 because it comes from God. 47:32 It comes once I am reconciled with Him. 47:34 And I think with each other, maybe I got mad at Josh, 47:37 which I'm not mad at Josh, but say, I got mad at Josh. 47:42 In order to have peace between he and I, 47:46 we would have to be reconciled, right? 47:49 We would have to come back into a relationship 47:52 where I apologize for what I did to him 47:55 or I said, "I'm sorry for whatever," 47:57 and we were brought back into that right standing 47:59 or that right relationship. 48:02 It's one more verse about peace, I want to look at. 48:05 Of course, there's Isaiah 26:3. 48:07 We won't turn there, but what the Bible say? 48:09 You will keep Him in perfect peace 48:12 whose mind has stayed on you 48:14 because He trusts in you. 48:16 Peace comes from choosing 48:18 to keep my mind stayed upon God. 48:21 You notice that in all the fruits of the Spirit? 48:23 God is the one who does the work in us and through us, 48:27 but you notice, it all takes a choice. 48:29 It's making a choice, "I want to walk God's way." 48:32 "I want to do things His way." 48:34 You know, recently, 48:35 I had one of those hard days at work. 48:38 You ever have a hard day? 48:41 And oh, you know, 48:45 everything that could go wrong did. 48:49 You know that? 48:51 And Satan just came in with like, 48:56 "You're doing a horrible job. 48:59 Why are you even trying? 49:03 What type a person are you? 49:05 Why are you even..." 49:07 You know, how Satan comes, all this junk. 49:11 And I said, "God, I want peace. 49:14 I need peace." 49:16 And so I prayed, "Father, give me Your peace." 49:21 And you know what happened? 49:25 I wish I could tell you. 49:26 In some way, it got better, but I don't feel any different. 49:29 That's the honest truth. 49:31 I didn't feel any different. 49:33 And so you're going, "Okay, God..." 49:35 That's where we make a choice, 49:37 "And we bring our mind, You have promised peace." 49:41 Isaiah 26:3, I will focus my mind on You. 49:44 And every time Satan comes and says, 49:47 "You're just..." 49:48 And he says one of those bad words about you, 49:51 "God, I'm choosing not to think about that. 49:53 Thank You that I'm Your daughter. 49:55 Thank You that You have forgiven me. 49:56 Thank You that You have accepted me. 49:58 Thank You that You have a purpose and a plan, 50:00 and that You are still working in my life 50:03 in the midst of this. 50:04 Thank You for what You are doing." 50:06 And you know what? 50:09 God brought His peace. 50:11 Philippians 4:6 and 7. 50:21 Philippians 4:6 and 7, "Be anxious for nothing, 50:28 but in everything by prayer and supplication 50:32 with thanksgiving, 50:34 let your requests be made known to God." 50:38 Verse 7, "And the peace of God which passes all understanding, 50:43 will keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus." 50:47 There's a poem I love. 50:48 I've loved it ever since I was a kid. 50:50 And when Greg and I got married, 50:53 I said, "Do you mind if I had it like typed up?" 50:56 I said, "Do you mind if I framed this 50:57 and put this by the bed?" 50:59 It's just mean so much to me, this poem. 51:01 And he said, "Yeah, Jill, 51:03 that's fine if that's what you'd like." 51:04 So I have it, you know, you have your bedside table 51:06 right by the bed, 51:08 and I have it right above there, the frame. 51:11 And it's called Acceptance with Joy. 51:15 And it says, "In acceptance lieth peace, 51:18 o my heart be still. 51:21 Let thy restless worries cease and accept His will. 51:28 Though this test is not my choice. 51:31 It is His. Therefore, rejoice. 51:36 In His plan, there cannot be anything 51:39 to make you sad. 51:41 If this is His choice for me, 51:46 I will take it and be glad, 51:49 make from it some lovely thing to the glory of my King. 51:55 Cease from sighs and murmuring, sing His loving grace. 52:02 This trial means my furthering to a wealthy place, 52:09 from my fears, He'll give release. 52:13 In acceptance lies peace." 52:17 And that's what God wants to do, 52:19 take out anything in our lives and hearts 52:23 that destroys that peace, 52:24 and it comes from acceptance, surrender, choosing His way 52:30 and letting Him fill us with His peace. 52:32 We don't have a lot of time, 52:34 but I want to see if we can get to patience. 52:36 So the fruit of the Spirit is, we said love, joy, peace, 52:41 longsuffering or patience. 52:45 In Greek, the word for patience is, this is a long one, 52:50 makrothumia. 52:54 That's a long word, 52:55 but literally, it means long-tempered. 52:58 You see, someone who is short-tempered, 53:00 someone who has a short fuse and easily gets irritated. 53:04 This word means long-tempered. 53:09 It's self-restraint 53:12 in the face of provocation. 53:16 It doesn't retaliate when Tracy makes me upset 53:20 which she hasn't. 53:22 It doesn't retaliate. It doesn't punish. 53:26 Patience is accepting God's will and timing 53:31 in my life in those circumstances. 53:34 Patience is endurance under trial. 53:39 Patience is flexibility, 53:44 contentment. 53:47 Patience is even love. 53:48 1 Corinthians 13, the fruit of the Spirit is... 53:52 Sorry, 1 Corinthians 13, Love is patient, kind. 53:59 Patience, how do we develop patience? 54:04 One of the best ways is through trial. 54:07 In the midst of trial, patience is born, 54:12 patience is developed. 54:13 Turn with me quickly to James. 54:20 James 1. 54:28 James 1:2, "My brethren," or you could say sisters, 54:34 "count it all joy..." 54:36 In the Greek, the word for joy is pure, 54:39 unmixed joy. 54:40 We're not talking about count it... 54:42 It's just kind of happier, kind of joy. 54:45 This is pure, unmixed joy. 54:47 "When you fall into various trials 54:54 knowing that the testing of your faith 54:57 produces patience. 55:01 But let patience have its perfect work, 55:03 that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." 55:06 So in the midst of the pain and the midst of the trial, 55:10 when I want to say, "Get me out, God, pull me out." 55:14 He says, "I'm working, Jill. 55:17 I'm working in your life right now to develop patience." 55:24 And that patience is developed in the midst of trial, 55:26 but it's really accepting trial God's way. 55:31 It's not running through trial my own way 55:34 or with my own thoughts or trying to jump out. 55:39 It's accepting trial in the midst of it God's way. 55:47 God wants... 55:48 We started this evening talking about the tug of war 55:51 that we experience between the work of the flesh 55:55 and the work of the Spirit. 55:57 And I don't know what tug of war 55:59 you feel like you have in your life tonight, 56:01 but God says, "I came to set you free. 56:05 I want to bring healing. I want to bring deliverance. 56:10 I can make the big, strong, tough guy 56:12 who was wrapped up with a rope and who kept growing, 56:16 I can make him disappear and diminish 56:19 into a little child and easily pull you this way 56:23 toward the fruit of the Spirit." 56:24 God wants to work in your life His love, 56:27 maybe you don't even feel like, "How could He love me? 56:30 I've messed up so many times. I've done so much." 56:34 And God said, "I can forgive you. 56:37 I can cleanse you. I can make you new. 56:42 I want to cover you with my righteous right, 56:45 white robe. 56:47 I want to put My spirit within you 56:49 and cause you to walk in My statutes, 56:51 cause you to walk in the fruit of the Spirit." 56:55 The fruit of the Spirit is love. 56:58 Choose to accept His love, ask for His love, 57:01 accept His love by faith, 57:03 walk out, actively seek for ways 57:06 to walk out that love toward other people. 57:08 The fruit of the Spirit is joy. 57:11 Choose to surrender whatever you're dealing with, 57:14 choose to accept it, choose to walk in God's way, 57:20 choose to give thanks. 57:23 The fruit of the Spirit is peace. 57:26 Ask Him to make you in right standing with Him 57:29 and to give you His peace, 57:30 which is so different from what the world gives. 57:34 And choose... 57:36 The fruit of the Spirit is patience, 57:38 choose to accept the trial, the difficulty, 57:40 what you're going through right now with His grace, 57:45 with His joy, 57:47 and you will experience His patience. 57:49 Know that our Thompsonville Church here, 57:52 our 3ABN family that we love you at home, 57:54 that we are praying for you, and may God work His fruit, 57:58 the grace of His spirit 58:00 into your life and into your heart. 58:02 Let's pray. 58:03 Father, we thank You, 58:05 thank You for the fruit of the Spirit. 58:06 Thank You for the work You do in our hearts and in our lives, 58:12 how You want to change us into the image of Jesus. 58:16 We give You permission just now to take out all those things 58:21 that are unlovely and unlike You, 58:24 and to fill us with Jesus. 58:26 We thank You and give You praise and glory. |
Revised 2018-09-24