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Monday, March 14, 2011

The Fruitful Life: Faithfulness

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its

passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

(Galatians 5:22-24)

Faithfulness is an internal attitude that has to do with faithfulness before

God, not faith in God. It is a picture of someone who doesn’t waver in

loyalty to God, someone who follows through with commitments regardless

of difficulty. Faithfulness is love hanging on; love saying “I will not quit!”

Faithfulness is spiritual stick-to-itiveness!

When Paul wrote to Timothy, he wanted to make sure Timothy understood

the importance of staying on track, moving forward, and standing tall, just

being faithful. When it came time for Paul to give a living example, he had

to look no further than himself (2 Timothy 4:6-8). Paul had already

reminded Timothy of the duties of faithful ministry, and he wanted to give

him another compelling reason to stay the course: Paul would soon die and

Timothy must carry on the work.

So, when Paul reviewed his life he offered three statements to Timothy

about the urgent necessity of faithfulness:

The Good Fight – He stayed with it, in spite of the rigors and sacrifices

that the ministry brought to Paul.

The Finished Course – Paul said he endured to the end. He successfully

completed his life before God. He remained true to the gospel. Perhaps

he was told of Jesus declaring “I have brought you glory on earth by

completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4).


The Kept Faith – In life and in doctrine, he stayed the course with integrity.

Paul’s charge to Timothy is ours as well. We need to faithfully finish our

own race. Someone once said, “God’s call upon each life is different in

details and specifics, but he desires faithful endurance from all of us.” God

wants us to stay with it, to stand tall for the cause of the gospel, to never

waver in our loyalty to our Savior. After all, we know what lies ahead: “the

crown of righteousness.” We know who will give it to us: “the righteous

judge.” And we know the future does not exist for us alone, but for “all who

long for his appearing.” How awesome is that!!!

Dr. Derek



Tuesday, March 8, 2011

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to

Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the

Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-24)

The fruit of the Spirit are not emotions. They are qualities determined by how we act,

not how we feel! For example, we may get angry (an emotion) but if we don’t act

unkindly, we can still display the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says “In your anger

do not sin.” (Eph. 4:26) It does not say that anger is sin. It does say we are not to let

our anger (an emotion) cause us to sin (an act).

For review, here is what we examined yesterday concerning kindness and goodness:

Kindness is the Imprint of God upon His Creation

Kindness is defined as “tender concern for others.” Kindness is the genuine desire of a

believer to treat others gently. Where did that inner yearning come from? Let’s allow

the Scriptures to answer that question:

For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all

generations.” (Psalm 100:5)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm

106:1)

For God so loved the world that he gave...” (John 3:16)

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of

God.” (1 John 3:1)

Josephus, a first-century historian, noted that the believers were so kind that many

people did not know whether their title was “follower of Christ” or “follower of kindness.”

May that also be true of us! Let’s remember God’s loving kindness toward us in

sending His only Son to be a sacrifice for our sin. May God’s kindness “imprint” forever

be stamped on our hearts.


Goodness is the Generosity that flows from a Kind Heart

Goodness is a rare word found only 4 times in the New Testament, and used only once

by Paul. It conveys the idea of generosity toward someone else, a going the second

mile. It has to do with moral and spiritual excellence that flows from a grace-filled heart.

So, the kind goodness of God – poured out in our lives through the sacrifice of Christ –

is the ultimate display of what it means to reflect the glory of God to the world. Listen to

these Scriptural mandates:

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do

justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave

you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those

who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10)

Notice how loving kindness and walking humbly are connected to a forgiving spirit and a

desire for moral purity. John Wesley said, “Do all the good you can by all the means

you can in all the places you can at all the times you can to all the people you can as

long as ever you can.” Mark Twain said, "Kindness is the language which the deaf can

hear and the blind can see."

There are hundreds of ways you can show kindness and goodness. You can:

Visit the sick, the elderly, and the lonely

Call the discouraged

Do favors for others

Bear the burdens for others

Encourage the downtrodden

Give to the needy

So, rate yourself today? How kind are you to people in the world? How kind are you to

people who are close to you? What steps will you take today to display kindness and

goodness this week?

Dr. Derek

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Fruitful Life: Patience

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to

Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the

Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”(Galatians 5:22-24)

Patience comes from macrothumia, a compound word. Macro means “long” and thumia

means “temper” or “explosion.” It is the exact opposite of a short temper of a short

explosion. Patience is defined as:

Self-restraint under pressure.

The calm willingness to accept situations that are painful or irritating without

getting edgy.

The ability to persevere when outcomes don’t develop as soon as we expected.

So, how patient are you? If you charted your life as a Christian, what would it look like?

Jesus said, “Abide in me and you will bear much fruit” (John 15:5). How is your day-to-

day existence with God? What situations has God placed you in to teach you patience?

You and I need to remember that God’s agenda is of “conforming us into the image of

Jesus Christ” (Romans 8:29). The purpose of God often develops slowly because we

are always in a hurry and God’s designs are never hurried. Phillips Brooks, the great

New England preacher, was feverishly pacing the floor one day when a friend asked,

“What’s the trouble Mr. Brooks?” His reply was, “The trouble is that I am in a hurry, but

God isn’t!” Haven’t we felt that same way many times?

Abide in Christ this week. Slow down your frantic pace. When you are tempted to

respond to difficulty with anger, restrain your anger. Develop the calm assurance that

God is in control and rest in his guiding hand. When you are in difficult situations that

tempt you to explode – remember Billy.

A guy stops in the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up some things for

his wife. He wanders aimlessly, searching out the needed groceries. While at the store

he noticed another father trying to shop with a totally uncooperative three-year-old boy

in the cart. The little boy was asking over and over again for a candy bar. He heard Dad say,

“Now, Billy this won’t take long.” As they paused in the next aisle the little tot’s pleas

had increased several octaves. Dad was quietly saying, “Billy, just calm down. We’ll be

done in a minute.”

Then the kid started screaming uncontrollably. Dad just kept his cool. In a very low

voice he was saying, “Billy. Settle down. We’re almost out of here.” The Dad reached

the checkout counter and Dad gave no evidence of losing control. The boy, on the

other hand, was screaming and kicking. Dad kept calmly saying over and over, “Billy,

we will be in the car in just a minute and then everything will be ok!”

The shopper was impressed beyond words. After paying for his groceries, he hurried to

catch up with this amazing example of patience just in time to hear him say again, “Billy,

we’re done. It’s going to be ok.” He tapped the patient father on the shoulder and said,

“Sir, I couldn’t help but watch how you handled little Billy. You were amazing!” Dad

replied, “You don’t get it, do you? I’m Billy!”

Dr. Derek