Things Are Not what They Appear

     The Lord has been bringing to my attention lately the subject of faith; in otherwords, believing in the things that are not seen because we believe instead the things that God has declared as true. And, we can believe these things because we believe in Him because He is truth.
     In situations in our lives, we seek Him and His promises because we are in need of Him. So we pray and ask Him for these things to take place such as protection, deliverance, comfort, peace, etc. Until we get that faith walk, or walking by the Spirit (or in cadence with Him) we still seem to fall back on our senses to "judge" whether or not God is "working" on our behalf. In our immature state, we usually give God 15 minutes to prove Himself, and then decide either He's against us or He's not listening or because we don't see evidence in the natural realm, that we can't trust Him. By doing this, our faith is weakened.
     Yesterday my son said that he felt he had the gift of faith. I replied that I "somewhat" had it. He challenged my "somewhat" asking what was it that made me doubt God. When the enemy comes and whispers that it doesnt' seem like God is working (no evidence by our senses) then, I replied, that I suppose I begin to believe him. Then we went on and remembered that faith is the evidence of things NOT seen. I was encouraged once again to have God bring this to my remembrance, and then asked Him to help me resist the devil whenever he comes to "whisper SWEET NOTHINGS in my ears." But first I need to "submit under God" which really means to trust what He has said is true, and especially to know and trust who He is and what He has done. He's conquered the devil-end of story. He has no hold on me-end of story. He will do what He says He will do, according to His precious, holy will-end of story, and He doesn't have to act according to the way I would like or in the time frame that I would like-END OF STORY. (Hey, it doesn't hurt to "tell yourself off" every now and then.)
     So, God continue to grow us up in you, and trust the outcome with you, and help us respect your sovereign timing and ways. Amen. That we may walk by faith in the Son of God, and not by sight, and by this, You have said, we are blessed.
    

Rethinking Fruit

     We, as Christ's Body, are to be known by our fruit, He says. I have thought, erroneously, it seems that if someone gives to others and does nice things for them, than this is an obvious display of fruit, somehow proving that they are part of the Body of Christ. Certainly, giving ourselves on behalf of others is something a surrendered person will do, but in itself is not the total picture.
     What does Christ say that fruit is? "Gentleness, self-control, peace, faithfulness, love, etc." A person can give to others outwardly,  but their inward (and sometimes outward) attitude can be one of anger, judgementalism, gossip, and vengefulness; definately not fruits of the Spirit. It's the nature of the person that matters, not the outward acts of kindness. But it's at home or in daily life,where the rubber meets the road,that is the real determining factor.
     My husband has said that you can tell how much of Christ is in someone by how they treat their spouse in private. Uh, oh-that indicts most of us.
     We don't want to go too far here in "discerning the Body" by what we think we see in others, and be like the guy who thought the tree needed to be cut down, while the keeper of the vinyard told him to give it one more year. God sees so much more than we do or can, and knows the genuine fruit that is about to come forth.We can, however, begin to see first, in ourselves (as God reveals) what of the flesh we are still operating in , and what needs to be surrendered to His working/healing/ delivering Hand. Then we can begin to walk in the Spirit and let His life and fruit become part of who we are, and not just display fleshly fruits of falsehood, dishonoring our Head; the keeper of the Vineyard.