Love, Joy, Peace, Patience

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Love, Joy, Peace, Patience

Love,  joy,  peace,  patience — these are all qualities we enjoy  and long to have enriching our lives.     But,  we must all admit that we don’t always feel so loving,  joyful,  peaceful,  or patient  when things just aren’t going our way.     Our sinful natures have a way  of making us  into people  we’re not exactly proud of.

We might try (on our own strength) to be loving all the time,  but our hearts  just are not always  with the program.     We find ourselves  going through the motions,  and the feeling  of being dutiful  overrides what should be  a genuine love.     We know we’re not right  in being this way.     But,  we don’t know what to do about it.

When it comes to joy,  peace, and patience,  our surrounding circumstances seem  to dictate what is going on  in our hearts.     Where’s the joy,  peace,  and patience when we’re stuck  in a traffic jam  and our car is sounding “funny”?     How about when we’ve been diagnosed  with a terminal health issue?     We might even be plagued  with family issues,  job issues,  and neighborhood issues……..

It can feel overwhelming,  to say the least.     But,  the apostle Paul tells us a little something  in Galatians 5:22-23,

But the fruit  of the Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  patience,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness,  gentleness,  self-control:   against such things there is no law.

The  “fruit of the Spirit” is all this  and so much more.     The  “fruit of the Spirit”  has to be what we need,  but how can we have the  “fruit of the Spirit”?     The way Paul says this,  love,  joy,  peace,  and patience is not something we produce.     It is something  the Holy Spirit produces.     So,  the Holy Spirit has to make this  in our lives.     How can we get the Holy Spirit  to do this for us?      This is something we really need and want  in this world.

Jesus taught us  about fruit  in our lives.     In John 15:5  Jesus says,

I am the vine,  you are the branches;  he who abides  in Me,  and I in him,  he bears much fruit;  for apart from Me  you can do nothing.

Oh, my!     We are worthless and dead  without Jesus giving us life.     Jesus is the vine.    The vine is what has roots  that supply all the strength and nutrients  to the branches  so that they are enabled  to produce fruit.     If a branch is cut off  and laying all by itself,  it immediately starts dying.     Such a cut off branch can’t produce any fruit.     It’s impossible.     There has to be a way  to get nutrients  from the soil.     Being connected  to the vine  is the only way  for a branch to get the nutrients  it needs  to produce fruit.

We need Jesus.     Jesus is the vine.     We are the branches.     We have to abide  in Jesus,  if we want to bear the fruits  of  love,  joy,  peace, patience……. and everything else  that is good and worthwhile.     If we’re cut off  from Jesus,  we die.     Dead branches can’t do anything — let alone bear fruit.

If we want  to be living branches  that bear good fruit,  we have got to abide  in Jesus.     How?     Through faith.     We confess our sins  to our Lord  and ask Him  to forgive all our sins  for Jesus’ sake.     Then,  we ask Jesus to let His Holy Spirit live  within us — and we submit  to Jesus’ word  by reading and meditating  on what He has to say to us  in the Bible — His word to us.     We let Jesus be our Teacher.     We let Jesus teach us  about how He has loved us  from the beginning of time — and kept all  of God’s promises  of salvation  for all those who trust in Him.

This is all a submission  to God’s promises and love  in Jesus.     It’s the greatest gift ever.     Let us receive it and say,  “Hallelujah!     Lord,  You alone are the giver  of all good gifts — the gifts of love,  joy,  peace,  patience.     Lead us  to truly abide in You,  so that we might bear good fruits  for You.”

Love,
Margaret

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A Christian devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and God of gods

 

Pray for our country.

 

This is the day which the LORD has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

 

The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield  to all  who take refuge  in Him.
Psalm 18:30

 

Sing for joy in the LORD,  O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming  to the upright.
Psalm 33:1

 

How blessed are those  who dwell in Thy house!
They are ever praising Thee.
Psalm 84:4

 

Just as a father has compassion  on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:13

 

Oh give thanks to the LORD,  for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 107:1

 

Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Psalm 105:3

 

Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that
I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12

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