Galatians 5:22-23 “ But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” Today's episode talks a bit about the benefit of having a word and mantra for the year. Then it goes into the verse and what the verse means for us in our day-to-day life. It talks a little about how we get gifts, what makes them powerful, and what we need to do to help them grow. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Same Way Fruit Appears In An Orchard
Galatians 5:22-23 “ But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”
My mentor posted this online yesterday for us to read and think about as we all begin to think about our words and mantra for 2024. In the Big Life Mentoring with Pamela Crim, she has us pick a word and mantra each year. First, she has us fill out worksheets that help us pray about it, ask God about it, and figure out what it is we want and need this year. Then, we ask the Lord to give us a word for the year. Sometimes, we have a word in mind, and then after we do the worksheets, we realize God has a different word in mind. Sometimes He will give us a word that we don’t necessarily want but that we really need. For instance, He gave a friend of mine the word stay, when all she wanted to do was go.
God is a good and loving Father. He doesn’t always just tell us what we want to hear, He also tells us what we need to hear. Once we have our word, we come up with a mantra that we say every single day of the year. This is to remind us of what is important and how we said we wanted to live. This is great to have because it is also something to which we can hold all of our decisions up to see if they align with how we want to live our lives. For instance, my word last year was Bold. I knew I wanted to step out in faith more and ask people if I could pray over them. I knew I wanted to live my faith more boldly and not be afraid of what others thought of me. This was going to require me to be more bold.
After filling out the worksheet and finding out everything I wanted next year, I came up with a mantra, and then, at the New Year’s Retreat, my mentor helped me fine-tune it. My mantra for this year is, “I have a divine calling on my life, and I boldly respond, holding nothing back. I’m here to serve God fully and be used as His vessel. I know He is already proud of what I am doing, and I will continue to step out and be BOLD!” This mantra was great because it reminded me of who I wanted to be all throughout the year. Did I always live up to this mantra? No. Sometimes I did not respond boldly, but I believe I responded boldly more often than I would have if I had not had this mantra going through my head.
Now, let's get back to the verse. The verse says, “ But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” While first reading this verse, I was confused as to what was meant by the saying, “He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard.” How does fruit appear in the orchard? The first thing that came to me was that the tree needs to grow. When the tree is a sapling, it doesn’t have any fruit. However, as it grows up, as it matures as a tree, you will begin to see more and more fruit on it. The second thing that came to me is that the fruit is a gift. The tree didn’t have to do anything to earn the fruit it produced. All the tree had to do was be itself, do the things it was made to do and God took care of the rest.
The same is true for us when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to do anything to earn the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they are freely given. However, sometimes we do need to ask for them. God is a big believer in free will, so He does not want to give you something you do not want. However, He is happy to give us gifts when we ask for them. You might know some people who have certain gifts from the Holy Spirit. You might even think to yourself that you asked for that same gift and wonder why they have a much stronger gift than you do. My guess would be that they use the gift more, or they spend more time in communion with the Lord.
Even though our gifts are freely given by the Lord, the power of the gifts we are given flows from our relationship with the Lord. Everything we do flows from our relationship with the Lord. So, we may have the same gifts as someone else, but if they are spending more time cultivating a deeper intimacy with the Lord, it may seem like they have a stronger gift than we do. We all have the same Holy Spirit living inside of us, the exact same Holy Spirit. The Lord has just shown them through that intimacy how to use it more. A second reason it can seem like they are more gifted is because they practice the gift they were given. They exercise those gifts, and so they become stronger.
We were all given the Holy Spirit at baptism and then a refreshing of the Holy Spirit at Confirmation. However, if we aren’t asking for the gifts of the Spirit, then we probably aren’t seeing them in our lives. If we did ask for them and yet we aren’t using them, we probably aren’t seeing the fruits of them in our lives. If you are faithful with little, God will give you more. Sometimes it takes using the gifts in faith for a long time before you actually see any fruit in your lives from them. However, if you ask the Lord for the gift and then you use the gift he gives you, you will grow in it.
The verse goes on to give a few examples- “things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” How great would it be if we had a supernatural affection for others? If we could be more Christ-like and love everyone, not just those who met our impossibly high standards, we didn’t know we had. I think we could all use a bit more of a sense of compassion in our lives. That is something that seems to be lacking nowadays.
Next, it says we will develop a willingness to stick with things. If anyone needs this one, it is me. I have really been struggling with that this year. However, I have plans in place to help me next year, and they all begin with spending more time with our heavenly Father. I know when I put Him first and make time first thing in the morning to spend with Him, my day goes better, and my life goes better. I don’t know why it is so easy to forget that. Another great thing this verse mentions that I think is important for all of us to have is a “conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people.” If we go into a situation or a conversation assuming good, assuming holiness is present, we will have much better results. Usually, we go into things assuming the worst, and then we wonder why it goes badly. Our attitude and thoughts matter!!
The last part of the verse that I want to touch on is where it says, “not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” If we stick closely to the Lord, this part will be easier. If we are constantly checking in with the Lord, then we don’t have to force things in our lives. God will lead us down the steps He wants us to take. He will lead the way, and we just get to follow. That is not to say following is always easy, but it is not something we need to force. It says right in the verses we will be able to marshal and direct our energies wisely! Who wouldn’t want that?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, help us follow your ways. Help us ask for your gifts and then use them when you give them to us. Help us to know what to ask for, Lord. Help us to assume the good in others and the good in our situations. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I have decided that instead of calling my new program coaching, I will call it mentoring. If you want more info on that program, you can find all the details on my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com. The live mentoring nights will be Tuesday nights, and they will consist of 30 minutes of me teaching/mentoring on a topic and then 30 minutes of small group time where you can see how to use what I taught in your upcoming week. I really think the small group time will turn out to be your favorite part, even though you may be apprehensive at first since you might not know anyone. Growing with a community is the best!
The word of the Lord for today is the bookmark that we will go over in the Prayer Group today. It begins with a call, proclamation, promise, and directive. See if you can spot them.
“Come closer to me. Come deeper with me. Come into my presence because I want you, my diamonds, to sparkle so that all those around you will want to come and be in your presence to absorb your light. Your light is my life in you. I am the God who loves you. I am the God who protects you. I am the God who never stops caring for you. I give you my abundant blessings. No matter what is going on in your life right now. I take each step that you take. When you feel you can’t stand, I am there to carry you. What I share with you, you must share with others. It is I who sends you to share my way, my truth, and my life so that others may grow in me and love me. Arise with the name of Jesus on your lips.”