This is the second in the Fruit Of The Spirit series from Galatians 5:22-23. Today we will look at the fruit of love:

 

Here is something I want you to know about love: God loves you! John 3:16 says that God loves us so much that Jesus GAVE HIS LIFE for us! That is amazing love.

 

 

1 John 4:7-11 says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves had been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

 

As I have written before, love is an often misunderstood, misused and abused word in our world. But the Bible tells us what real love is, what really love requires and what real love does. Love isn’t ours, it doesn’t come from us; love comes from God. Jesus’ love for us led him to give up his life for us.

 

When asked, Jesus said that the most important thing was to love God with all that we are and to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22: 37-40) He said that ALL the other rules/laws/commandments hang on these two.

 

God love us. We love God because of his love for us. Because of our love of God, we love others.

 

Love isn’t just a good feeling, a smile, or a simple hug. Love is a mindset, a priority and it leads to action. In John 15, Jesus says that he wants us to love each other as he has loved us. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

 

Max Lucado says of love, “No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.”

 

Reflect on this in the coming week, learn of God’s love for you, learn of the call to love others, and live love.

 

~Jillene

A favorite activity at camp is singing. Perhaps it is less of an “activity” and more just something that happens a lot. We sing grace, sing songs at worship, sing at campfire, sing when we walk from place to place… singing seems to be something we were created to do. Music speaks to our spirits and can help connect us to each other.

 

One of my favorite songs to lead is called: The Fruit of The Spirit

 

This song is fun for campers to sing because they get to participate. I think this song is great because it is teaching us scripture and helping to reinforce lessons from God’s word that we need to remember and put into practice!

 

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our comforter, to be our guide. The Holy Spirit leads us in the process of growing in character. Jesus said in Luke 6 that no good tree bears bad fruit and the same is true in people. A good person brings good things out of the good in his/her heart while an evil person brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his/her heart. Makes sense… yet it is a rough message when I think about myself and my heart. But here is the good news:

 

Christ has sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us! God lives in us! When we give our lives to Christ our hearts are not our own. God lives in us and the Holy Spirit guides and grows us.

 

Galatians 5:25 says that we live by the Spirit! The Holy Spirit is working to produce within us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let’s spend the next 9 weeks to focus on the fruit of the spirit. (Galatians 6:22-23)

 

Start by memorizing Galatians 5:22-23 and read the context of Galatians chapter 5. Over the next 9 Wednesdays, I will focus on a different “fruit of the Spirit”. Together we can study what scripture has to say about these character traits of godliness, submit to the Holy Spirit, and work on cultivating these fruits in our lives.

 

~Jillene

Even though the snow is swirling outside, we are thinking Summer!!! Our 2012 schedule is now available! Click here to download: Vick2012Schedule.pdf

As we begin this New Year, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite Psalms.

 

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

 

He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

 

The LORD watches over you—

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

 

The LORD will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

 

I love the imagery of this Psalm as it begins, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains- where does my help come from…” Perhaps it is because God used this Psalm to speak comfort and truth into my life during some really tough times. But I love to reflect upon this image around the turn of a New Year. Why? Well, it’s because of what this Psalm was penned for/about.

 

My fancy Bible (the one with all the commentaries) gave me some amazing insight into this song. It is referred to as a song of ascents and says it was used as a pilgrimage song, specifically the pilgrimage the Israelite people would take to the temple in Jerusalem. This pilgrimage was not likely an easy one. Our car trips to Grandma’s house for Christmas may not be easy, what with all the fighting, sitting close with our siblings, not being able to use our computers. But the trip, the pilgrimage for the Israelites to Jerusalem was often hard physically- they walked/rode animals, the trip was long on foot and the terrain didn’t make it any easier.

 

So why did they go? Because God was at the temple in Jerusalem. They went to give glory, honor and worship to God. And they went for sacrifice- a chance to be forgiven, made clean, put right with God. This was an IMPORTANT trip. It was worth the struggle. It was a new beginning.

And THERE is the connection with New Year’s. For many of us New Year’s Eve signifies an end and a beginning, a time to reflect on the times gone by and the times to come. The New Year becomes a chance for many to start again. Many make New Year’s Resolutions.

 

As we face our new year, our new beginning, let’s start by coming before God. Make the journey, reflect on the year past and look forward to the future. Read Psalm 121 and make it your prayer as we begin this New Year.

 

And know this- you have something that the Israelite people didn’t have. See at that time, God placed his presence in the temple. To worship God, to make sacrifice and praise, they had to travel to the temple. But because of Jesus coming to earth and by his sacrifice, God can now reside in us. So if you need a new start with God (and we all do!) you don’t have to wait to make a yearly pilgrimage, or until next New Year’s Eve to make a resolution. Because God is here with you right now.

 

Lift up your eyes (your heart, your mind, your whole self) to Him right now!