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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Fruity Spirits Day 7: Faithfulness


Big hearts.
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Hello day seven!  We've moved along through Galatians 5:22-23 discussing the different Fruits of the Spirit and now find ourselves ready to discuss the seventh Fruit of the Spirit; faithfulness.  Missed the first 6 days?  Check them out using this link here:  Fruity Spirits Series

Faithfulness...what a big word.

Faithfulness can be applied to many different things in life.  

A few things that faithfulness can be attributed to are:
  • A husband to his wife (and vice-versa!)
  • A dog to its owner (that's how the old saying goes at least, isn't it?)
  • A parent to their child
  • God to us
  • An employee to their long standing employment at a certain job
  • To our friends
  • Faithfulness to.........you get the point, lots of different things!
With so many things that faithfulness can be attributed to we often forget that we are even practicing the art of being "faithful"!  

The best example of faithfulness though is God's faithfulness to us.  Not only does God say He is faithful; He proves it each and every day.  He means what he says.  He never leaves us.  He is THAT faithful.

So here's a challenge question for you:

Are we being as faithful to God as He is being to us?  

God doesn't walk away from us when times get tough.
He is always faithful.
God doesn't just say that He is going to be faithful to us.
He is always faithful.
God isn't only faithful when He feels like it.
He is always faithful.

...So why then do we choose when to be faithful and mostly only do it when we feel like it or when we have nothing left but to give God our most faith?

Let us truly be faithful to God and never leave His side just as He never leaves ours!

Allow us to practice faithfulness in all aspects of our lives (work, play, relationships, etc.) but let us start by first and more importantly living out our faithfulness to God!  

It's not a matter of "I'll be faithful later" or "God wouldn't really like to see me like this, so I'll just come back to him in a minute"....NO.  Make faithfulness the unending bond between you and Jesus.  God deserves back what He shows to us every single moment of every single day, and though the list of those things is endlessly long...faithfulness is one of them.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
- Galatians 5:22-23


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Wicked Inspiring | Zach Sobiech





"...I want everyone to know, you don't have to find out you're dying to start living." -Zach Sobiech

As did many others, I began watching this video with no intentions of sitting through the entire 22 minutes of it......but you guessed it.....22 minutes later I found myself still watching.  Zach's outlook on life is so inspiring.  His story is a reminder to all that we need to live in the present and enjoy life while we can.  Things can happen so fast and change everything in the blink of an eye.  Take a moment to sit back and be inspired by Zach Sobiech and then make the decision to start living because life is a gift from God and oh so fragile and that's something that I know I sure take for granted much too often.   



 

Fruity Spirits Day 6: Goodness

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 After a brief hiatus here we are back on track for day 6 of the fruity spirits series.  Reading on in Galatians 5:22-23 we arrive at the sixth fruit of the spirit; goodness.  Missed the first 5 days?  No worries!  Check them out by clicking HERE.

Goodness.  Answering the question "what does it mean to be GOOD?" is not an easy task.  We initially attribute being "good" as what keeps us out of trouble.  But again, what DOES that MEAN? How do we do it?! Being "good" can be done in SO many different ways and can mean SO many different things to so many different people.  In the eyes of a kindergartener being good means sharing, being nice, and using manners.  For a full-grown adult being good looks a whole lot different. 

Tackling the task of stating what exactly it means to be good is one that cannot simply be done in a few mere words.  If something can be stated in just a few simple words it's this:  God is good.  Not only is God good...He is good ALL THE TIME.  

So maybe this post is going in a little bit of a different direction that the previous posts.  The way I look at, who am I to sit here and tell you how to be "good"?  I can only tell you what I know, and that's the fact that there is no better example of goodness than God's goodness.  

No matter what happens in our lives, no matter how disappointed we get, no matter how upset we are, hurt, mad, sad, or confused, we can assuredly rest in the fact that God is STILL good.  

There is no circumstance in life that can change the fact that He is good.

That problem you're facing?  God is still good.
That disappointing news you just received?  God is still good.
That devastation you feel?  God is still good.
The hurt you feel?  God is still good.
Whatever it may be...God is STILL GOOD.

Here's the thing with God's goodness...it doesn't go away, it doesn't change, it always remains.  It doesn't grow weaker; only stronger.  He isn't good only when He feels like being good.  He's always good.  He's constant.  He's consistent.  He doesn't change.  He's even good when we aren't.

Imagine if we were the same in our behaviors.  Imagine if we were good, all the time.  Never disobedient to God's leading and the life He set out before us.  

What would that look like?

Challenge Question:  What does "being good" look like to you?  How would you define it?


"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
- Galatians 5:22-23