Daily Devotional: Tuesday, Feb 2
Speaker: Paul Diaz
Theme: Joy & Peace
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Just the Same by Northwest University; Happy Day by Tim Hughes; How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin; Hosanna by Hillsong United.
READ: Galatians 5:23-24; Matthew 7:15-20; Ecclesiastes 3:1
THINK: There are times when my favorite fruit is hard to find.....it is not in season. I wait, anticipate, and can almost taste the juicy sweetness of sun-ripened strawberries if I concentrate hard enough. Most fruit is found in several forms: fresh, canned, dried, dehydrated, or spoiled. You probably would agree with me that fresh is best. Canned, dried and dehydrated are acceptable and spoiled is repulsive.
What fruit is in season in your life?
Just as a fruit tree is expected to bear fruit, believers in Jesus are expected to display the fruit of the Spirit. Pastor Paul said, "Place your roots in God, stay connected to Christ ." It is only possible to bear the fruit of the Spirit by remaining in Jesus.
There are seasons when fruit is ripe and there are seasons when it is not. We experience this in our lives. It would be very rare for a person to display all nine of the fruits in their freshest form at the same time. When one fruit seems canned, dried or even spoiled do not lose hope. As the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote and The Byrds sang, "to everything there is a season." When we feel that a fruit is missing or not at its freshest turn to the Creator of all things for apart from Him we can do nothing. To bear fruit we must remain in Him.
Do: Take inventory of the fruit of the Spirit in your life. Is there fruit that needs a little extra attention? Decide today to ask God to develop this fruit in your life.
Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, you are a faithful provider of all I need. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I might bear the fruit that will identify me as belonging to You.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church. |
