Back To The Basics

Review

2 Corinthians 10:5 “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”

Romans 12:1–2 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Psalm 119:11 “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”

123 ABC’s

Life was never meant to be so complicated. It becomes complex and anxiety inducing when we don’t have a solid foundation. We want the more and next without solidifying the hear and now. But like anything life it can become very complicated just like algebra without knowing basic math or reading and spelling without knowing the alphabet. God through His Son gave us the 123 ABC’s of life.

What makes life dreary is absence of motive. What makes life complicated is multiplicity of motive. What makes life victorious is singleness of motive.

George Eliot

Throughout this week the Lord brought me to

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.”

As I was reading this and reflecting on my own life I saw some areas with lack of fruit production and maybe one where I had to really evaluate my charater. I began to ask the Lord how to get more . The Lord was showing me that the fruit will be evident to the extent I am willing participant in transformational work of the Holy Spirit. See these are Characteristics of the Holy Spirit and they are evidence of our lives when He is working in us.

I think that we get to focused on the end product and the fruit that comes from us when we ought to be more concerned about the conditions that fruit is growing in. I think trying force and control the fruit from our lives is a fuitle attempt to hide what is realling going on in our hearts and minds.

God paved the way for your life.

I want us to see something this morning. God is working in and through every moment and circumstance of your life.

John 15:3 ““You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

already in a purified, fruitful condition

Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. 1997. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Vol. 2. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

2 Peter 1:3 “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”

Abide and thrive or strive to survive

John 15:5 ““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.”

We as humans strive and get anxious over so many things. We work so hard at times to get better and do better often with more or less the same often reapeated negative results. But at the same time we often bypass the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit and do these things in our own efforts.

Being a Christian is an impossible endouver without the Life, Death and Resurection of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit working in us. We have an example of that in the Scriptures and they are called the Pharisees.

Matthew 12:33–37 ““Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. “For by your words you will be justified, and 1by your words you will be condemned.””

This comes down to humility, The absolute best of my heart, mind, and strength comes to absoluty nothing if it is not humbly submitted as an act of worship to God.

You won’t understand where the behaviour comes from unless you understand the state of heart and mind. And you won’t change the behaviour unless you change the heart and mind.

N. T. Wright

That being said let’s not focus on and try to influence our fruit proudction, but rather focus on abiding which will affect the state of the tree which will produce the fruit. Be in the word and with Holy Spirit, that is the only way any good will come from us.

POTENTIALLY

John 16:5–11 ““But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”