Online Devotions: fruits of the spirit

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Yes, But...

May 6 (John 6:28-29)

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (ESV)

Yes, but…. The non-believer says no to the call of God, and the believer who says yes often falls into the pride of the Pharisee who thanked God for not being like others (Luke 18:11). If truth were told, however, the yes of the believer is often conditional. We say yes and then hurry on to an objection. “Yes, yes, I get it, Lord. You want me to believe in Jesus. But what do you really want me to do? Shouldn’t I be out there saving the world with the wonderful talents you have given me?”

Belief in Jesus leads to following Him, and following Him leads to acts of service through which He does indeed change the world. Yet when we rush to the acts of service and forget Jesus Himself, we fall prey to pride that we are the ones actually making the difference. We begin to believe that it is all up to us, and this turns into a deadly perfectionism that leaves us exhausted from carrying burdens we were never meant to carry. Remember, it was Jesus who said that His burden was light (Matthew 11:30).

Are you experiencing the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that are the fruits of the Spirit? If yes, then thank God and savor the true life in Christ. If not, don’t double down on your own efforts to force those fruits into existence. That is likely what you are doing anyhow and is the cause of the problem. Instead, turn back to Jesus. Let Him become once again your all in all. When you let Him become your life, you are truly doing the work of God.

Jesus, pry my fingers from the tight grip I maintain on life. Open my hands so that I may receive You. May You direct my paths and not my agenda, however many good things it may contain. Amen.

Sunday, March 4, 2018

What Is A Fruitful Life?

March 4 (Mark 4:18-19)

And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. (ESV)

What do you think it means to be fruitful? I have always taken this to mean being productive. We don’t want things getting in the way of our doing things for God. It is true that we don’t want to be distracted or deterred from our mission, but there is more to what Jesus is saying here than that.

Rather than take a modern definition of fruitfulness, and in my case one that fits very well with my driven personality, consider a biblical understanding. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Now put those two passages together. The worries and cares of the world, to say nothing of our desires and pursuit of ungodly things, keep us from bearing the fruits of the Spirit. You may be doing a great many things, even good things for God, but is your life bursting forth in love? What about joy and peace? How are you with patience these days? You see where this is going.

You can force yourself to do a good deed, but you cannot muscle up and will kindness into existence. You simply cannot dig down deep and make any of the fruits of the Spirit a reality. They have to grow and develop on their own. The only thing you can do is make sure the soil of your life is free from the thorns that would choke them out.

Dear God, You wrecked me with this. I have so often thought that running around and doing more good things was what it meant to live a fruitful life, and I know that You have given me good works to perform. Yet I also know that what You want most is for my life to be a rich garden in which the seeds that You plant can flourish and bring forth fruit. Help me pull out the weeds and thorns of distraction and worry so that nothing may interfere with YOUR work. In the name of Jesus, my Savior, amen.

History of Online Devotions

In January of 1999, I began the Online Devotions with the teens of the church we were attending. Each week they would receive a verse of Scripture, a short reflection, and a prayer. Over the years others subscribed to this email list, and soon the Online Devotions were going out to people across the country and beyond.

In 2007 I published in book format a collection called Desert Days: Forty Devotions for Men.

After suggestions from several readers, I launched in 2010 the Online Devotions blog. Devotions are still available each week by email, and if you would like to subscribe, please indicate so in the comment box.

As I have always said, if one of these devotions touches you, you can be sure it was from God. If one leaves you flat, then there was too much of me in it.