Friday Fruit

Living the life of a Christian is a fruitful one.  Going back several years to a point in time where God was dealing with me on this, we find a writing explaining some of the lessons He was giving me.  The following was a writing I did for my "Saturday Seeking" devotionals on August 27, 2005:

A Fruitful Week

This week Bert and I led the last of our Wednesday Night Kid’s R.O.C.K. (Reaching Our City’s Kids) Church gatherings. Over the summer we have shared the lessons of the fruit of the Spirit [love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control] with the children of Crosby. Over the course of the summer we have planted seeds in 28 little lives. We may or may not see growth in their lives right away, but will trust there will be someone in place to water, and God will provide the increase in their lives. (See 1 Corinthians 3:6)

God gave me a strong desire to minister to the kids over the summer. I felt that this was definitely my calling, and persisted even when some weeks there were only three or four children in attendance. The warm summer days made the swimming pool and ball games a much more attractive drawing card. But the Bible says wherever two or three are gathered, Jesus is there in the midst of them. With this in mind, our ministry continued throughout the summer.

What I didn’t realize was, while I was teaching the children, God was teaching me! You see, He knew I would need these lessons on August 25 when the hard drive went out on the computer I was using to complete a summer long conversion process at work.

It took self-control to not break down and cry (or scream!) when I came to work early that day only to find an error message on the computer. It took lots of patience as I waited for 30 minutes to talk to the kind gentleman in India who helped me diagnose the problem. It required faithfulness to my job to not just walk out the door and let someone else solve the problem. I needed peace in my heart to remind me God was in control and would, with gentleness, see me through.

And see me through He did. We are still waiting to receive the new hard drive, but one of my co-workers, displaying much kindness and goodness, was able to make the necessary changes to another computer allowing us to continue. I was able to successfully complete the first half of the testing, which gave me great joy.

It is with His love I enter your “inbox” each Saturday with these simple messages. Take a few moments today and look for signs of God’s fruit in your own life. If you see the fruit, take time to thank God for it. If you don’t, ask God to plant a few seeds and then watch it grow!

 

I am so thankful the lessons in God's fruit of the Spirit keep coming on a daily basis. . .today I will share love and joy with my grandchildren.  I will be at peace, knowing God will go with me as I travel the 70 miles to see them.  I'm guessing there will be a few moments requiring the rest of the fruit, as I relate to their four precious personalities.  As you end your week, take a moment and reflect on the evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life.  It is, after all, what will show others you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.  (See  Matthew 7:15-20 for verification. . .and have a good week-end!)