Fruit of the Spirit - Goodness

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

            Good things come from the Spirit’s indwelling in our lives. As the Holy Spirit does his work our character changes. Where we were once selfish, cruel, rebellious, and spiteful, we now begin to exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  All the fruit of the Spirit reflect the character of God.   Goodness is one that relates directly to morality.

            Goodness is virtue and holiness in action. It is a life characterized by the motivation to be righteous and desire to be a blessing. It’s the moral characteristic of a Spirit-filled person. In Greek the word translated “goodness,” is defined as "uprightness of heart and life." It is goodness for the benefit of others, not goodness simply for the sake of being virtuous.

            Someone with goodness will selflessly act on behalf of others. Confronting someone about a sin demonstrates goodness. So do giving to the poor, providing for one’s children, visiting the sick, volunteering to clean up after a storm, and praying for an enemy. Expressions of goodness are as varied as the Spirit is creative.

            Goodness is not a quality we can manufacture on our own. James 1:17 says, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." This certainly includes a life characterized by goodness. In letting the Holy Spirit control us, we are blessed with the fruit of goodness. As others see our good works, they will praise our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). 

            Next we’ll take a look at faithfulness.  Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource: https://www.gotquestions.org/fruit-Holy-Spirit-goodness.html

Fruit of the Spirit - Kindness

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

 

kind (kīnd); 

1. Having or showing a friendly, generous, sympathetic, or warm-hearted nature.

2. Agreeable or beneficial: a dry climate kind to asthmatics.

 

 

            Kindness is a Godly attribute that we are to exhibit, however, it’s not always easy. We are simply not always kind; our human nature tends to be somewhat unpredictable at times. Kindness is very close to goodness, mercy, pity, love, grace, compassion, gentleness, and tenderness. Its’ meaning tends to overlap with these other attributes, yet it is specifically mentioned as a Fruit of the Spirit. 

            Some folks are naturally kind natured. Could be hereditary, passed down thru their parents. Could simply have a solid grasp regarding how to or how not to act or react to a given situation. Once again, it has a lot to do with what we focus on in this life. Are we allowing things like jealousy or spite to enter into our heart. Our hearts are the factories that produce our emotions. “The heart is often referred to as the core of our being, representing our innermost desires, emotions, and motives. It is the seat of our affections and serves as a guide for our actions. Proverbs 4:23 reminds us, ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’" ^[1]

            God’s divine kindness is taught throughout Scripture. Psalm 145:9 says, “The Lord is good (kind) to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.” Luke 6:35 tells us to be kind to the ungrateful and wicked just as our Lord is. Romans 2:4 tells us God’s kindness is for leading one to repentance. “God's kindness is seen in his deliverance of the believer from affliction, fear, and trouble.” “God's kindness is manifest in the full salvation that comes through Christ (1 Peter 2:3).”

            “As humans, we are to love kindness and exhibit both mercy and kindness. Yet human imitation of God's kindness does not come naturally. In fact, ultimately no one is kind. It is only as the fruit of God's Spirit that kindness can be a consistent part of the believer's experience.” ^[2]

            Next we will take a look at goodness. Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] https://johnbaptistchurch.org/biblical-meaning-concepts/heart-soul-and-mind

^[2] https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/kindness/

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” – Luke 6:35

 

“…do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” – Romans 2:4

 

“…now that you have tasted that the Lord is good (kind).”- 1 Peter 2:3

Fruit of the Spirit - Patience

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

 

            “‘Patience’ implies suffering, enduring or waiting, as a determination of the will and not simply under necessity. … We need to "wait patiently" for God, to endure uncomplainingly the various forms of sufferings, wrongs and evils that we meet with, and to bear patiently injustices that we cannot remedy and provocations we cannot remove.”

            “Patience is often hard to gain and to maintain, but, in Romans 15:5, God is called ‘the God of patience’ as being able to grant that grace to those who look to Him and depend on Him for it. It is a reliance on God and acceptance of His will, with trust in His goodness, wisdom and faithfulness, that we are enabled to endure and to hope steadfastly.” (1)

            God knows what we need and exactly when we need it regardless of what it is. Patience and peace should go hand in hand. Having patience can be a battle in and of itself, but it doesn’t have to be a battle that we lose. It’s an acquired character trait. I find that I have become a lot more patient and as a result much more at peace. I believe that comes from my belief and trust that God is in control. If he is not than something or someone is greater that he is and I refuse to believe that. I believe all things happen for a specific reason and that it all ties in with God’s perfect will for my life. It has nothing to do with material possessions, but rather spiritual attributes and behavioral characteristics. This can be the case for any one of us, but it requires us to be ALL IN when it comes to our relationship with Almighty God. Nothing can happen to a believer that God doesn’t either cause or allow for a very specific purpose.  

            The thing we simply MUST understand and accept as fact is that GOD HAS THE FINAL WORD regarding anything and everything that takes place on this earth. He created it and is master over it. The enemy is NOT more powerful than God. They have been allowed by God to rule over this earth for a time, but nothing takes place without Almighty God sanctioning it. We must have supernatural patience, the kind that comes from God alone. We must remain patient and at peace while the fires rage all around us. 

            Patience is an act of our will. If we truly believe that God IS all scripture declares Him to be, then what do we have to be concerned about. Oh, make no mistake, being human, and being emotional creatures as a result, presents a challenge to achieving a spirit of patience, but it is most definitely attainable. It depends on what our focus is on. If it is on the calamitous events taking place around the globe and in our own country, then we will become fearful. But focus your sights on the Almighty and things will be much different.

            They say, “Patience is a virtue*.” ^[2] While scripture tells us in Jesus own words that no one is good except God, our acquired patience reflects a Godly quality that is morally excellent and good.  To have patience exhibits our assimilating the high character qualities of Jesus. Matthew 19:26 (AMP) reveals to us the following: “Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God”.” Never doubt or short change in your own mind God’s ability to do what seems impossible. There is NOTHING He cannot do. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

            Next time we will take a look at kindness. Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

[1]. https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/patience

* Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness.

[2] The expression 'patience is a virtue' originates from the 3rd century. The term's first appearance is in 'The Distichs of Cato,' referred to as 'Cato to the Elder.' The phrase appears as the following: "Of human virtues, patience is most great."

Fruit of the Spirit - Peace

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy,peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23

 

            - The Meaning of Peace. In English, the word ‘peace’ conjures up a passive picture, one showing an absence of civil disturbance or hostilities, or a personality free from internal and external strife. 

            - God as the Source of Peace. God alone is the source of peace, for he is ‘Yahweh Shalom’ (see Judges 6:24). The Lord came to sinful humankind, historically first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, desiring to enter into a relationship with them. He established with them a covenant of peace, which was sealed with his presence (see Num 6:24-26). Participants were given perfect peace as long as they maintained a right relationship with the Lord (see Isa 26:3; 2 Thess. 3:16).

            In Philippians 4:7 we have a wonderful promise: “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It is important to note the context of this promise because that’s where we find the condition: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (verse 6). God’s peace is promised to guard those who pray—with thanksgiving—about everything. This peace will transcend our ability to understand it. ⁽¹⁾

            The Old Testament anticipated, and the New Testament confirmed, that God's peace would be mediated through a messiah (see Isa 9:6-7; Micah 5:4-5). Peace with God came through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1; Eph 2:14-17; Col 1:19-20; see Heb 13:20). Peter declared to Cornelius: "This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all." (Acts 10:36 NLT).

            - The Relationship of Righteousness to Peace. The Lord established a covenant, which resulted in the participants receiving his peace ‘like a river’ in abundance (see Isa 48:18); however, peace could be disturbed if one did not live before the Lord and others in righteousness; in fact, peace is one of the fruits of righteousness (Isa 32:17-18). 

            One cannot overlook the fact that the harmony spoken of throughout eternity will never happen until man has a right relationship with God; it will be the result of the righteous rule of the "shoot from the stump of Jesse"who has upon him the Spirit of Yahweh; he is the "Prince of Peace" (Isa 9:6; see Jer 33:8-9). ⁽²⁾

            Next we will take a look at ‘patience’. Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

⁽¹⁾  https://www.gotquestions.org/peace-that-passes-all-understanding.html

⁽²⁾ https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/peace/

* YHWH – “A name for God thought to represent the original pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton among the ancient Hebrews.” The Jews never said his name, they spelled the letters YHWH to represent Yahweh, their name for Almighty God.

Fruit of the Spirit - Joy

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23  

 

         Since we’ve covered ‘love’ as a fruit of the spirit about as completely as it can be covered in blog form we shall move on to ‘joy’. Let’s start by looking at a generic, secular definition of the word ‘joy’: “1a) the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight. b) the expression or exhibition of such emotion: gaiety. 2) a state of happiness or felicity: bliss. 3) a source or cause of delight. joy.” ⁽¹⁾

            Rick Warren ⁽²⁾ adds his own definition: “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”

            There is a difference between joy and happiness. “Happiness is an emotion in which we ‘experience feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense pleasure,’ whereas joy ‘is a stronger, less common feeling than happiness.’ We experience joy when we achieve selflessness to the point of personal sacrifice.” ⁽³⁾ “The joy referred to here is deeper than mere happiness; it is rooted in God and comes from Him. Since it comes from God, it is more serene and stable than worldly happiness, which merely emotional and lasts only for a time.” ⁽⁴⁾

            Lisa Leonard, Christian blogger, had this to say about “choosing joy”: “Choosing joy means letting go of the things I can't control–which is most things. Choosing joy means having compassion for others, with all their strengths and weaknesses, and having compassion for myself. Choosing joy means forgiving others and forgiving myself. There is so much forgiveness, so much grace.” ⁽⁵⁾

            The Bible says this: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” – Romans 15:13

                  Next time we will take a look at ‘peace’, until then walk with the King and be a blessing!

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

 

 ⁽¹⁾ Joy | Definition of Joy by Merriam-Webster

⁽²⁾  Rick Warren is the Senior Pastor at Saddleback Church in California. He is the author of the best selling book ‘The Purpose-Driven Life’.

⁽³⁾  Taken from: https://www.islandpacket.com › living › religion › article33609807

⁽⁴⁾  Taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Fruit_of_the_Holy_Spirit

⁽⁵⁾  Taken from Lisa’s blog entry: https://www.lisaleonard.com › blog › choose-joy › choose-joy

Fruit of the Spirit - Love

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23    

                  Over the next several days I will be looking at the Fruits of the Spirit. Today we’ll take a look at ‘love’. There are 4 different types of love in God’s economy. I’ve often said that if you ever want to know the definition of ‘love’ you can go to chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians. That is God’s definition of ‘love’, spelled out in detail. I will look at that another time. 

Today I wish to touch on the four unique forms of love that are found in the Bible. They are communicated through four Greek words: Eros, Storge, Philia, and Agape. We'll briefly explore these different types of love characterized by romantic love, family love, brotherly love, and God's divine love.

 

Eros – Sensual or romantic love between a man and a woman

Storge –Familial love between a mother and her child

Philia – Brotherly love that united believers

Agape – God’s love for his creation

 

                  There is such a thing as ‘lust’, which is an “Intense sexual desire” ^[1]. That is ‘eros’ gone awry. It misses the mark established by God. At no point are we talking about ‘lust’, for that is romantic love that has gone off the rails. In extreme cases it shows a serious lack of self-control. The enemy presents us with tempting videos or pictures that we normally wouldn’t look at, but they tease us into looking. It is my understanding that while looking is not what we should be doing, looking is not where the sin lies. It is in the doing. If you are incited to follow your ‘seeing’ of it with action, THAT is where the sin lies.  Man is generally unable to cope with temptation effectively without someone or something to lean on when the heat is turned up.  Might I suggest the Holy Spirit. The Lord gave us the person of the Holy Spirit to dwell within us upon salvation. The Holy Spirit can lead, guide, instruct, and warn us regarding impending danger. Our aim should be to avoid temptation, not invite it in.

                  The four types of love are appropriate and even necessary for a healthy, happy life. Without ‘eros’, a couple is bound to be unhappy, because intimacy is a goal of marriage. It is a way to express your deep, abiding love for your spouse. Without ‘eros’ the chances of any affair to feed that need get ratcheted up and THAT is not acceptable.

There are too many horrific stories of ‘familial love’ (Storge) failing, many times because of one or both of the parents ignoring their child or children. The child / children then may begin to seek love on other fronts. Could that be areason why there are so many teenage pregnancies? Perhaps. The enemy has made major inroads in the destruction of the family, tearing it down slowly thru the past few decades.

Have you noticed how people seem to have ceased looking to establish a brotherly or sisterly relationship with someone at church or in their community. This is brotherly love (Philia). Now that is a broad, sweeping generalization that obviously isn’t true throughout the country or even the world. High tech has replaced talking face to face and phones have become a necessity to the point of distraction. Addiction is not too strong of a word to use in this case. It has occurred to me that society as we know it might just collapse if phones were taken away from people or if the power grid went down for an extended period of time.  ‘Philial’ love is a healthy love for a brother or sister in Christ. It can also exist in secular circles as well. 

‘Agape’ love is the unconditional variety. It’s God’s love for his creation. His deep affection for His own is spoken of throughout scripture. Without it there would be NO GOD. What and who God is happens to be spelled out in the Bible, therefore, He exists and loves every part of His creation. 

Love is just a word by itself. Defining it gives it life. It is an ACTION word. There is no quarter for love to exist in any other form than what is established in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” This is what it IS and what it IS NOT. This would be an important portion of scripture to memorize, so you can remember it whenever necessary. Remember, LOVE ALWAYS WINS!

 

Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). 

Thoughts on Healing …

We’ve been talking about when our prayers for healing don’t get answered, but perhaps we should have started with the most basic question that needs to be answered first … how do we know God hears our prayers?On the heels of the question “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” needs to be “Does God care for me?” or “Does God see my needs?”. Scripture is very clear regarding that topic: “… your (Heavenly) Father knows what you need before you ask him.” ^{(Matthew 6:8)} Therefore God knows your needs without question. But does He care for you? "Cast your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you." ^{(1 Peter 5:7)} “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” ^{(Nahum 1:7)} “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” ^{(Psalm 55:22)} So if you ever think to yourself that God must not care about you or your needs, whether they be physical, financial, or material, know that is an attack from the enemy for the scriptures above tell you something very different. 

            If the answer to your prayers happens to be “No”, you must understand that God sees the big picture, something we are incapable of doing. God can see the negative things that will come with what you are asking for.  Perhaps His answer to you is “Not Yet”. It could also mean He has something better in store. The Lord owes us no explanations, and certainly is not obligated to tell us when the answer is coming. God looks at everything from an eternal perspective. We look at the here and now. God has no time or space restraints. He is ubiquitous, in that He is all places at the same time by His Spirit. This is what being Omnipresent means and it is one of His key attributes, along with Omnipotence (all-powerful) and Omniscience (knowing all that can be known).

            God is never late or early, but always on time. We are easily bored, discouraged, frustrated and impatient, which makes the wait all the more painful. At times such as those our faith is being stretched. There are many things we don’t know and yet God knows it all. We need to trust that His way is the right way, and we must stop thinking and fretting about the answer that has the potential of never coming. There could be a variety of reasons known only to God as to why you aren’t receiving an answer to your prayer(s).  You must remember, without a definitive date to hang your hat on, we can never know when or even if we will receive an answer to our prayers. To know is to not exercise our faith, for faith is believing what you cannot see as if you can. And if your answer doesn’t come this side of heaven, it will come on the other side. You only think you need your answer instantly, but in reality, God knows exactly when it is needed and as said earlier, is ALWAYS on time. So chase from your mind His lack of love or understanding regarding any part of your life and / or immediate situation. He knows us far better than we will ever know ourselves. 

            This is the final post regarding Healing. I hope it ministered to your spirit. Next we are going to start a series on the Fruit of the Spirit.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource: https://www.hopeforthebrokenhearted.com/when-your-prayers-arent-answered/