"Fruit of The Spirit"

 "The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved." (S.O.S. 7:13)

  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)

  There are certain things that we do that require us to be focused and determined; and then there are things which are just naturally manifested in us, as we yield ourselves to the power of God's Spirit! You actually cannot make this happen, although people continually try; desperately try, over and over, using the same failed procedures and rituals, hoping for new and different results. Yes, God wants us to move that giant rock; but to move it, it will require that it is moved by His Spirit, not by our might and strength! He is more than capable of making a rock big enough that we can never move; but not one that He cannot move, no way, no how! 

  Peter says, "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness." (2 Peter 3:17) This he says to the reason that so many fall away from sound doctrine, because those that twist the Scriptures, do so as to pull in others to the side of their destruction. This is not only the way of the world, but this is the god of this world's intention also: to pull as many of us as he can into the destruction that soon awaits him, and all those that rebelled against God, with him. As my mother would say, "Misery loves company." 

  I can recall a time when my wife and I were buying a used car; which is something we had not done in probably at least ten years; prior to that, we had always traded in our two year old car or trucks for new ones, at least every two years. We drove about 60 miles away from home to buy a two year old Jeep that had 75,000 miles on it; expecting it to have been driven by someone that was diligent to have changed the oil and maintained it, in order to perform under such a heavy load. We prayed before we needed to deal with the salesman, agreeing on a purchase price we wanted, saying that, "If this is your will, Lord, then the selling price will be $8,500." 

  Well, the selling price was $8,900, but we bought it anyways! Afterwards, I felt rather convicted; not because I had not kept the fleece I put before the Lord, but because I had let down my witness to my wife about trusting God. Little did I know, but she confessed to thinking $8,900 was the figure we had laid before the Lord, not $8,500; who would have guessed! Sometimes the things we want God to do, are not the things that God wants to do. Basically, what the point in that is, is that we go with the flow, by making sure that the flow is His, not our own! 

  Do not get caught trying the old ways of failing in a new way; it is always only God's ways, of which we are totally unaware! With each and every single issue or circumstance, we must pretend we are like little children crossing the street; looking both ways, and waiting for Daddy to take our hand! He knows what we need before we even ask: and the things we ask for, are not always the things we request, at least not openly and honestly! How can this be, and why can't we see? Steadfastness basically means that you are fastened to something that is steady and unchanging! 

  With that, there is a very good reason for "New and Old," as mentioned above: because God is always ready to show mercy! He has a very old way of doing things, because His mercies are new every morning...

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8:31-34)