Rotten, Nasty Fruit! Would you like some?

Have you ever regretted exploding in anger?  Did you feel terrible afterwards?  Boy, I sure have here lately and I get upset at myself for doing it. 

I think about the Fruits of The Spirit and then think to myself, “Wow, I’m failing here in some of these. I don’t want rotten fruit. Nobody enjoys it, I don’t enjoy it, and I KNOW God doesn’t like it. That’s what I’m forcing others to partake of , rotten fruit!” Who wants that?! Every harsh word is like throwing it at them and saying, “Here, take that!  I don’t care if you want it or not, you’re getting it!” Where’s the gentleness?  The self-control?  That kind of attitude doesn’t have much patience or kindness.  And it doesn’t matter if the reason I’m coming unglued is because I’m tired, in pain, stressed, frustrated, or have lack of sleep.  Rotten fruit is just rotten fruit and nobody desires it.  It doesn’t look good, it smells bad, and let’s face it….it looks really nasty.

     

 Look at Galatians 5:22-23  New Living Translation (NLT)

       22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

The leader of the Online Bible Study, Melissa Taylor, asked us to blog about how we are applying the message of the Unglued book by Lisa TerKeurst to our personal lives. Ok, well here it is.  I call it my Jesus Glue!  It's what holds me together.

My Personal Jesus Glue

1.      I spend more time in the Word of God to position my heart to flow in God’s       power and love, His divine nature

2.      In moments of frustration, I pause instead of reacting in anger

3.      Communicate my expectations with gentleness

4.      Feelings indicate where my heart is for the moment, not dictating how I behave

5.      Have a default “button,” have a plan how to respond appropriately 

6.      Remember “I am a child of God, holy, dearly loved, set apart for a mighty plan

7.      When I don’t know what to do, speak the name, “Jesus.”  He calms my heart because I invite Him to be with me and allow His power to work in the situation and being obedient to His will

8.      Give thanks to the Lord, His love endures FOREVER

9.      Act in kindness, it ministers peace to others

Awe, now that tastes MUCH better.  What a wonderful, sweet taste.  Can you taste it too? The fruits of the Spirit should have a nice aroma, a desired taste, and look beautiful.  It is the main ingredient of Jesus Glue.  Without it, we fall apart.  Our testimonies, are damaged.  Relationships, broken. 

Plsam 34:8  Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Them's Figh-en Words! Are you beating yourself up?

Negative self talk is so destructive!  A dear friend of mine described it like this, “Words” are still a very powerful and sometimes destructive force. Negative words are like unguided missiles…aiming to destroy, and if not stopped they will complete the mission! They are the tools of the devil…seeking to steal, kill, and destroy.”

Do you really know how powerful your words are?  When you say something to yourself, your brain receives it as truth.  If somebody called you dumb, fat, ugly, stupid, would you get upset?  It would be hurtful and could be depressing because it attacks your self worth.  Some of us would get really angry and might just have to do something about it!  In the south, you might hear, “Them’s figh-en words!”  

So why do we get ourselves upset and angry by saying the same things?  “I’m such an idiot.”   “I can’t believe I did that, I’m having a stupid moment.”  “Man, I hate the way I look.  God gave my sister the pretty genes.”  “I just wish I was never born!  I hate my life.”  We experience the same emotions regardless if somebody else says it to us or we say these things to ourselves.  Make an effort to stop beating yourself up and start visualizing what you want to be.  Let me tell you, you’ll have more motivation to do something about the changes you want, that’s for sure.

I shared in my last post that I am a small group leader for an Online Bible Study group. The book for these 6 weeks is titled, Unglued by Lysa Terkeurst.  I love the visual she gives of us being like a slab of marble.  God chisels away what we don’t need and artistically brings forth the beauty He sees. A beautiful sculpture made in His image.  With our negative self talk and negative belief of who we are, we stay trapped in that slab with all our raw emotions and never breaking free from it.  Will you choose today to let God do His work in you?  Will you let Him break away the labels you’ve placed on yourself and be set free?  John 8:36 “So if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.

Remember this always, that the moment Jesus died on the cross, He established your worth FOREVER.  He believed YOU were worth dying for!  John 15:13  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

I know that we discussed this topic in April in greater detail but I just felt I needed to share the spin that Lysa had.  It gave me such a great visual and blessed my heart so much, I felt you would be equally as blessed.  We will begin the topic of boundaries later in November when I finish the unglued study.  For now, I will be sharing from this book through the end of October. I hope you don’t mind the delay.  Love you all and look forward to seeing you back soon.