The Fruit of The Spirit

I love a good piece of fruit. There is nothing like a fresh sweet Georgia peach in the morning, or Florida orange after a long run. But there is more to fruit than the pulp. The next time you slice a cantaloupe open notice all the seeds. See, while we enjoy the pulp or meat of the fruit, and benefit greatly from it, the fruit exists for the seed. Fruit is designed to reproduce. Now think with me for a minute about The Fruit of The Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The Function of the Fruit of The Spirit is much like the pulp or meat of the fruit. Its function is to feed, to nourish, to satisfy, to supply, to energize. Fruit gives life to the body into which it is introduced. It produces life, energy, vitality, and vigor. The Fruit of the Spirit does the same thing in our spirits, it supplies the life of Jesus Christ to our souls. It nourishes, strengthens and encourages. However, we get shortsighted and think that is all there is. Like natural fruit, The Fruit of the Spirit contains the seed of the life of Christ. The Fruit in our life is meant to drop the seed of Christ’s life in others all around us. The Fruit of the Spirit is about the tangible, discernible, transforming reality of Christ in our everyday lives, and then the spreading of that seed into the lives others. So what Fruit are your producing in others; what seed are you dropping inside those around you?       

This blog was taken from a message shared at TRC. To listen to the message, click here.  

The Spirit and The Word

Do you have any idea the extremes that the Holy Spirit went to in order to bring you God’s message in the form of The Bible, The Word of God? For example, are you aware that God used somewhere around 40 authors, writing in three languages to compose the Bible. He inspired and authorized each of them, overseeing them to make certain that the integrity of the message was maintained. Did you know that He called scribes who were so consumed with accuracy that they counted every single word and letter. They knew for instance that the Torah, or the first five books of the Hebrews Old Testament, contained exactly 400, 945 letters, that the middle word was the word “searched” in Lev 10:16, that the middle letter was in the Hebrew word translated “belly” in Lev 11:42.  Did you realize that the Holy Spirit moved on a group of people living north of the Dead Sea to hide manuscripts in caves, and He kept them hidden and safe for centuries, until in 1947 when He led a little shepherd boy to find them. Since then the Holy Spirit has used scholars to verified the accuracy of what we now call the Bible, in large part because of these Dead Sea Scrolls. The question then is why? God did all this so that you and I could take the Bible in our hands and read it, fully confident that it is God’s message to us. He did it because He wants that message not just on the pages, but on our hearts.  

This blog was taken from a message shared at TRC.  To listen to the message, click here. 

The Key to Abundance

The Sea of Galilee and The Dead Sea are only about 65 miles apart from one another in Israel. But there is a world of difference between them. The Sea of Galilee is brimming with life. It waters are sweet, clear, and cool. It’s fisheries were prominent during the New Testament period and were famous throughout the Roman Empire. It’s shores were lined with a nearly continuous string of thriving settlements. The Dead Sea, on the other hand, is the antithesis of life. It’s waters are 7-10 times saltier than the oceans. Nothing lives in it; in fact, if you put salt water fish into The Dead Sea, they soon die. In antiquity it was known to some as the Stinking Sea, or the Devil’s Sea. The two seas have one striking similarity and one stunning difference, that being the Jordan River. This river flows into both of these bodies of water. It flows in the north end of the Sea of Galilee and out the south end. However, herein lies the difference. The Jordan River only flows into the Dead Sea; it never flows out. Nothing flows out of it. Do you get the irony and the analogy to abundance. Many people think abundance is about supply. Yes, supply is crucial. However, The Key to Abundance is not in the filling; it is in the flowing. It is what you allow to flow through you that gives you abundance, not what you can accumulate. If God can get it through you, He will get it to you. That’s The Key to Abundance.

This blog was taken from a message shared at TRC. To listen to the message click here. 

Life In The Spirit

Catchy phrase isn’t it, “Life In The Spirit”, sounds really spiritual, mysterious even. But it should not be. See, “Life in the Spirit” is meant to be lived out daily as part of a life truly separated to God. One of the best pictures of Life in the Spirit is found in a vision God gave Ezekiel. Christ, who is the man in the vision, shows him a river flowing from the temple of God, a river representing the Spirit of God. This river gradually got deeper and deeper until it was “water in which one must swim” (Ez 47:5). Many a sermon has concentrated on that phrase; hence some of the mystery. Perhaps we have missed the point. Read the story again and pay close attention to what happened. Four times Christ draws a line and each time Ezekiel says he “brought me through the waters” to that point. At each point Christ showed him something about that particular place. One was ankle deep, another knee deep, waist deep, etc. Then Christ brought Ezekiel through to the bank again and showed him incredible things about the places the Spirit of God flows. Seems to me that the point is not any certain place in the river; rather, it is that Ezekiel “look with his eyes, hear with his ears, and fix his mind on everything God was showing him.” (Ez 40:4) Yes, I certainly want to go deeper with God; but to go deeper I must daily set my eyes, ears, and heart on Christ and all He is showing me. That is Life In The Spirit.

This blog was taken from a message shared at TRC. To listen to the message click here. 

Under Pressure

Ever been under pressure and made a decision and then wonder, “What was I thinking?” There is a story in the Bible where a man named Aaron made that exact mistake (Exodus 32). Moses, their leader, had been away visiting with God for what seemed like an eternity. The people began to put pressure on Aaron to do something. “Moses could be dead for all we know! You have to do something!” So Aaron did that which was comfortable. He made a false god like the ones they were accustomed to seeing while slaves in Egypt. Very unwise. Fast forward a couple of days and Moses finds himself under  pressure, pressure from the people because of their fear that God would no longer walk with them on their journey. What did Moses do? He pulled up his stakes, moved his tent outside the camp, and met with God, face to face. Instead of bowing to the pressure, Moses did that which was uncomfortable; and Moses heard from God. Very wise. If you are trying to live a life that is set apart for God, then there will be pressure. In those times you will be tempted to do that which is comfortable, to act according to what you know, to do what you know you can do. Or you can choose to do that which is uncomfortable and rely completely upon God. No, it is not comfortable, but it is wise. And when you are trying to live under pressure, you will do well to live by wisdom, rather by that which is comfortable. 

This blog was taken from a message shared at TRC. To listen to the message click here.