But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Against such things there
is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
As I walk with the Lord, there is a Teacher,
the Spirit of God himself that walks and talks with me. Today I will also call him the Gardner.
When a garden
is planted, sometimes
the fruit or vegetables grow well. But even
the best plants, that which seems like they are growing well, often can use improvement, the Gardner can recognize this quickly.
So the Gardner
often has to re-cultivate
the ground, perhaps
remove some rocks that were deep in the dirt that did not allow the fruit to mature to its proper growth. Often what looks like good soil unless it’s tested may
reveal to be deficient of nutrients, therefore proper daily feeding
to the ground
is necessary to ensure that healthy fruit
is produced. Just because
it looks good,
does not mean it will taste
good.
Perhaps there is too much heat, perhaps the plant cannot handle that heat, so the
Gardner uproots the plant and chooses a different
location, a place of proper balance between heat and shade. The Gardner will frequently check the growth of
his
plants. If he sees that the plant is leaning or bending the wrong way, he may turn it around to try and re-position it...but if the plant is stubborn, for the good of the plant, for the benefit of pure fruit, he sometimes has to gently
restrict it, making sure that plant stays and grows
in the place the Gardner
planted it.
When the season
ends, the Gardner gathers
the harvest, he examines it, puts it to the
test as he serves it out. The Gardner
quickly see whether
those that are eating of the fruit he grew are enjoying
the benefits of his toil. If the fruit is bitter, rotten, un-matured, or just did not grow as the Gardner intended,
then he tweaks the process or perhaps he checks the seed to make sure that the seed will produce what he intended
to grow.
Love should not produce hate, Joy should not produce discontentment, Peace should not turn out as chaos, Kindness
should be sweet,
Goodness, genuine, Faithfulness should be authentic, Gentleness should not turn out harsh, and Self- control should be temperate.
Therefore I submit
myself to the Gardner
and allow him to continue
to examine, tweak, and if necessary start all over again until
the fruit produced is what he intended to reap out of this life.
I have grown
to recognize when the fruit is rotten, I can recognize
if the fruit is not
genuine..the fruit of my life. The Gardner
as he cultivates the ground,
he speaks to me. His Mighty Word, the food source to all that will grow well, is what I cling too. It’s not
only at the beginning of a new year that self examination is necessary, but a daily
check has to be part of my life. There is no one good…except the Lord. I am not perfect,
but I am being changed
daily until I reach
glory one day. There are spiritual
truths that I know
well but that does not mean I don’t need to be reminded. His Word does that for me.
There is not just one verse that I cling
too for the New Year, because every word is beneficial and instructive to me. In 2010 the Lord continued to teach me to trust him daily
and I did. In 2011 I will do the same because I do not know what it holds. I
thank the Good Lord for saving
my life and bringing and allowing me to join the family
of God.
I do have a continue
hope, that I hold on too, and that is that he would save my family….my entire family until
my whole lineage
proclaims Christ is Lord!
Happy New Year! 2011
God bless you!~Liz
www.lizrod.com
