Dawn 2 Dusk Growing the Spirit’s Garden in Your HeartThe “fruit of the Spirit” is not a list of personality goals; it is the evidence that the living God is at work inside a believer. In Galatians 5:22, Paul names qualities like love, joy, and peace that stand in stark contrast to the selfish, impulsive works of the flesh. This fruit is not manufactured by trying harder; it is grown as we walk with the Spirit, stay close to Christ, and surrender our daily choices to Him. One Fruit, Many Flavors Notice Paul calls it the “fruit” of the Spirit, not “fruits.” It is one unified work of God’s Spirit in a life that abides in Christ. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The Spirit does not grow joy in one corner of your life and leave love stunted in another. He is forming a Christlike character that is whole, coherent, and beautiful. Galatians 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness”. This is a picture of Jesus Himself being reproduced in us. The Christian life is not mainly about behavior management—it is about new life. God is not asking you to staple plastic fruit onto a dead tree; He has made you a new creation in Christ and planted His Spirit within you. Your part is to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), keeping in step with Him in the small, ordinary decisions of your day. Love and Goodness That Look Like Jesus At the front of the list stands love. “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). This is not shallow niceness; it is rugged, self-giving love that reflects the cross. Love, kindness, and goodness mean choosing the other person’s eternal good, even when they are difficult, ungrateful, or unable to repay you. This is why Scripture tells us, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). Goodness is love with a backbone. It is doing what is right because God is holy, even when culture shrugs or mocks. Kindness is love with gentle hands and a soft tone, even while speaking truth. When the Spirit is in control, we begin to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord… bearing fruit in every good work” (Colossians 1:10). Today, that may mean a quiet act of service, a hard but loving conversation, or simply refusing to retaliate when you have the chance. Unshakeable Joy, Peace, and Faithfulness Joy and peace are not the reward for a trouble-free life; they are the Spirit’s gift in the middle of the storm. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). Joy is anchored not in circumstances, but in the unchanging goodness of God and the finished work of Christ. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you… Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid” (John 14:27). The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11) can quiet your heart in traffic, in conflict, in uncertainty, and in loss. Faithfulness and patience are what joy and peace look like over time. When life is slow, unfair, or confusing, the flesh wants to quit, complain, or run. But “if we are faithless, He remains faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13), and His own faithfulness becomes the pattern for ours. The Spirit makes you the kind of person who keeps showing up—keeping your word, staying in your marriage covenant, serving in obscurity, praying when you feel nothing—because you trust the God who never lets go. Lord, thank You for planting Your Spirit within me and for the beautiful fruit You desire to grow in my life. Today, help me to walk by the Spirit in every choice I make, so that love, joy, peace, and faithfulness will point others to Jesus. Morning with A.W. Tozer Being Still in God's PresenceIn coming to God we should place ourselves in His presence with the confidence that He is the aggressor, not we. He has been waiting to manifest Himself to us till such time as our noise and activity have subsided enough for Him to make Himself heard and felt by us. Then we should focus our soul's powers of attention upon the Triune Godhead. Whether One Person or Another claims our present interest is not important. We can trust the Spirit to bring before our minds the Person that we at the moment need most to behold. One thing more. Do not try to imagine God, or you will have an imaginary God; and certainly do not, as some have done, 'set a chair for Him.? God is Spirit. He dwells in your heart, not your house. Brood on the Scriptures and let faith show you God as He is revealed there. Nothing else can equal this glorious sight. Music For the Soul The One Rule of Conduct" Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us." - Ephesians 5:1-2 People have always been apt to think of the Gospel more as a message of deliverance than as a practical guide. And we all need to make an effort to prevent our natural indolence and selfishness from making us forget that the Gospel is quite as much a rule of conduct as a message of pardon. It is both by the same act. In the very facts on which our redemption depends lies the law of our lives. Do not always be looking at Christ’s Cross only as your means of acceptance. Do not only be thinking of Christ’s Passion as that which has barred for you the gates of punishment, and has opened for you the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. It has done all that; but if you are going to stop there, you have only got hold of a very maimed and imperfect edition of the Gospel. The Cross is your pattern, as well as the anchor of your hope and the ground of your salvation - if it is anything at all to you. And it is not the ground of your salvation and the anchor of your hope unless it is your pattern. It is the one in exactly the same degree in which it is the other. So all self-pleasing, all harsh insistence on your own claims, all neglect of suffering and sorrow and sin around you, comes under the lash of this condemnation. If Christian men and women would only learn to take away the scales from their eyes and souls, - not looking at Christ’s Cross with less absolute trustfulness, as that by which all their salvation comes, but also learning to look at it as closely and habitually as yielding the pattern to which their lives should be conformed, - and would let the heart-melting thankfulness which it evokes when gazed at as the ground of our hope prove itself true by its leading them to an effort at imitating that great love, and so walking worthy of the Gospel, how their lives would be transformed! It is far easier to fetter your life with yards of red-tape prescriptions - do this, do not do that; far easier to out-pharisee the Pharisees in punctilious scrupulosity, than it is honestly, and for one hour, to take the Cross of Christ as the pattern of your lives, and to shape yourselves by that. One looks round upon a lethargic, a luxurious, a self-indulgent, a self seeking, a world-besotted professing Church, and asks, " Are these the people on whose hearts a cross is stamped? " Do these men - or rather let us say, do we live as becometh the Gospel which proclaims the divinity of self-sacrifice, and that the law of a perfect human life is perfect self-forgetfulness, even as the secret of the Divine nature is perfect love? " Walk worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Colossians 2:9, 10 In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him. All the attributes of Christ, as God and man, are at our disposal. All the fulness of the Godhead, whatever that marvellous term may comprehend, is ours to make us complete. He cannot endow us with the attributes of Deity; but he has done all that can be done, for he has made even his divine power and Godhead subservient to our salvation. His omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability and infallibility, are all combined for our defence. Arise, believer, and behold the Lord Jesus yoking the whole of his divine Godhead to the chariot of salvation! How vast his grace, how firm his faithfulness, how unswerving his immutability, how infinite his power, how limitless his knowledge! All these are by the Lord Jesus made the pillars of the temple of salvation; and all, without diminution of their infinity, are covenanted to us as our perpetual inheritance. The fathomless love of the Saviour's heart is every drop of it ours; every sinew in the arm of might, every jewel in the crown of majesty, the immensity of divine knowledge, and the sternness of divine justice, all are ours, and shall be employed for us. The whole of Christ, in his adorable character as the Son of God, is by himself made over to us most richly to enjoy. His wisdom is our direction, his knowledge our instruction, his power our protection, his justice our surety, his love our comfort, his mercy our solace, and his immutability our trust. He makes no reserve, but opens the recesses of the Mount of God and bids us dig in its mines for the hidden treasures. "All, all, all are yours," saith he, "be ye satisfied with favor and full of the goodness of the Lord." Oh! how sweet thus to behold Jesus, and to call upon him with the certain confidence that in seeking the interposition of his love or power, we are but asking for that which he has already faithfully promised. Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Losses OvercomeYes, those wasted years over which we sigh shall be restored to us. God can give us such plentiful grace that we shall crowd into the remainder of our days as much of service as will be some recompense for those years of unregeneracy over which we mourn in humble penitence. The locusts of backsliding, worldliness, lukewarmness, are now viewed by us as a terrible plague. Oh, that they had never come near us! The LORD in mercy has now taken them away, and we are full of zeal to serve Him. Blessed be His name, we can raise such harvests of spiritual graces as shall make our former barrenness to disappear. Through rich grace we can turn to account our bitter experience and use it to warn others. We can become the more rooted in humility, childlike dependence, and penitent spirituality by reason of our former shortcomings. If we are the more watchful, zealous, and tender, we shall gain by our lamentable losses. The wasted years, by a miracle of love, can be restored. Does it seem too great a boon? Let us believe for it and live for it, and we may yet realize it, even as Peter became all the more useful a man after his presumption was cured by his discovered weakness. LORD, aid us by Thy grace. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer And Went and Told JesusWHEN Herod beheaded John, his disciples took up his body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. Let us imitate their example, and carry all to Jesus. He loves to listen to the tale of human woe. He can and will sympathise with us in all our trials and troubles. He is our Father, and to whom should the child tell his troubles, but to his kind and tender parent? He will direct our steps, avenge our wrongs, and turn all things to our advantage. Does business go wrong? Are enemies active? Is corruption strong? Does faith flag? Are you tried in your family? Go and tell Jesus. It will ease your mind; prevent sin; ensure supplies; manifest relation; and frustrate the designs of Satan. Do not sit poring over your miseries; go not to creatures; neither murmur, complain, nor fret; but go to Jesus; go with speed; go in hope; go and tell Him all, without reserve. Go this morning, with all thy complaints, desires, and fears; lay them all before Him, and beseech Him to undertake for you. He loves to hear you, has promised to help you, and will certainly bless you. It is your duty, and your privilege, to pour out your heart before Him, and find Him a refuge for you. Our sorrows and our tears we pour Into the bosom of our God; He hears us in the mournful hour, And helps to bear the heavy load. Bible League: Living His Word Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.— Proverbs 4:23 NLT I've often heard people greet me and ask, "How's life treating you today?" Greeting someone this way may sound cool, but it assumes that you are a victim of "life." But God's Word says our own heart determines the course of our lives. Our own heart got us to the place we are in today. I recently purchased some mangos from the supermarket. They looked beautiful and juicy and very tempting. But when I cut them open at home, much of the fruit was rotten inside. I was so disappointed. Prior to knowing God, I too was like this mango. I was kind, compassionate, and loving on the outside for the world to see, but my heart was rotten. That rottenness was determining the course of my life, leading me toward a life of failure, frustration, anger, pride, jealousy, and depression. As imperfect and sinful humans, our hearts are influenced by the experiences derived from our five physical senses. Our senses determine our thoughts, and our thoughts influence our hearts. Imagine your heart as a garden. It's a vibrant and thriving space where the seeds of your thoughts, emotions, and desires are planted. Just like a gardener tends to her garden, God calls us to be diligent guardians of our hearts. Why? Because everything we do, every action and reaction, flows from the condition of our hearts. Picture yourself driving in heavy traffic, running late for an important meeting. Someone cuts you off, and frustration builds up within you. Your initial reaction might be to honk the horn or mutter some choice words under your breath. In this moment, your heart is exposed, and the condition of your heart influences your response. Guarding your heart means choosing a different response. Instead of letting frustration take root, you could take a deep breath, say a quick prayer, and extend grace to the driver who cut you off. In doing so, you're tending to the garden of your heart, ensuring that love, patience, and understanding flourish, even in challenging situations. The verse for today is a call to make guarding our hearts a priority in our daily lives. So, practically, how do we guard our hearts? 1. Stay rooted in God's Word. Just as a plant in a garden needs water and nourishment to grow, our heart needs the Word of God to thrive. Regularly spending time in Scripture allows it to shape our thoughts which in turn influence our hearts. Not doing so will allow worldly experiences to shape our thoughts and hearts. 2. Choose your influences. Be mindful of what you watch on TV and social media. Be mindful of the people you allow into your life. Be mindful of the words you speak and the songs you listen to. 3. Pray continuously. Develop a habit of talking to God throughout the day. It is like regularly watering your heart's garden, ensuring it remains fertile and vibrant. 4. Guard your thoughts. Be intentional about the thoughts you entertain. Replace negative and condemning thoughts with positive affirmations rooted in God's promises. Guarding your heart is a daily, ongoing process. It's about making conscious choices that align with God's principles in the midst of life's ups and downs. By doing so, you'll find that the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—flourish in your heart and overflow into every aspect of your life. As you go about your day, take a moment to reflect on Proverbs 4:23. How can you actively guard your heart in various situations today, ensuring that the love and wisdom of God guide your thoughts and actions? By Santosh Chandran, Bible League International staff, New Zealand Daily Light on the Daily Path John 5:26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;2 Timothy 1:10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, John 14:19 "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, Hebrews 6:4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 1 Corinthians 15:45,51,52 So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. • Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, • in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. Revelation 4:8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME." Revelation 4:9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 1 Timothy 6:15,16 which He will bring about at the proper time-- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, • who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. 1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.Insight Daniel stood alone. Although he knew about the law against praying to anyone except the king, he continued to pray three times a day as he always had. Daniel had a disciplined prayer life. Challenge Our prayers are usually interrupted not by threats, but simply by the pressure of our schedules. Don't let threats or pressures cut into your prayer time. Pray regularly, no matter what, for prayer is your lifeline to God. Devotional Hours Within the Bible Sin, the Cause of SorrowHosea was one of the prophets of the Ten Tribes, near the end of the Northern Kingdom. Most of his prophecies refer to the condition and destiny of his kingdom. Little is known personally of the prophet. The first three chapters of the book contain a history or parable of the prophet’s marriage, in which the love of God for Israel is graphically depicted, and the treatment of Him by His people is shown in all its blackness. The remaining portion of the book contains prophecies against the people’s sins. In the chapter for our present study, we are reminded of the splendid opportunities Israel had had, and of the reckless misuse or abuse of these opportunities. “Israel is a luxuriant vine.” The picture is of a vine that makes a great show in leaves but in the time of fruit has no grapes on it. It represents a life of much religious profession yet lacking in the fruits of righteousness, of character. We understand its meaning as referring to Israel in Hosea’s time. The nation made a great show of religion but its religion was idolatrous. Possibly, too, we could find people or Churches in these very modern days that might have sat for the picture. It will be of more practical help to ourselves and a fitter use of the Bible, if we make careful scrutiny of our own personal lives to see whether this vine with luxurious leaves and no fruit is in any sense a picture of US. We profess to be good people. There is a great deal of religious privilege and profession in our lives. We have had fine opportunities. Have we the fruits of the Holy Spirit? Have we the love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith which are given as samples of these fruits! Are we pure in heart, lowly in spirit, meek, peacemakers, as the Beatitudes paint the true Christian life? Have we the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians in our heart and disposition and life? The secret of this failure in the true results of life, is given in the words, “Their heart is divided.” They thought they were very pious, with great show of devotion. But it was not really worship. They were only half - hearted, at the best. A divided heart is an abomination to the Lord. We remember what our Lord said about it. Indeed, what he really said was that a divided heart was an impossibility. That is, only part of a heart does not count at all with God. Unless the heart is His altogether, it is not His at all. “No man can serve two masters.” “You cannot serve God and mammon!” There is room in a human heart for a great many things but there is not room for two Gods. If one loves father or mother or son or daughter or anything else more than Christ, he is not worthy of Him. We need to look carefully into this matter for ourselves not troubling ourselves much at present about the ancient Israelites. Are OUR hearts divided between Christ and something else? Is our worship sincere and spiritual? The ancient emblem of prayer was fragrance. The incense that was burned on the golden altar was rich in its perfume. God spoke of smelling a sweet savor from acceptable sacrifices. Does God find our worship fragrant? Is there love in it? Is there hearty praise ? Is there sincere penitence ? A nation without God is like a ship adrift, without a rudder on the sea. This was the condition of the nation of Israel at this time. They were facing great perils and had no Pilot. They had cut themselves off from God by their own sin. They had a king in name but what could their king do for them in their danger? He could not save them from their enemies. There are many people who give up God for a human friend, or for money, or honor, or place. But in time of sore trial, what can their friend, or their money, or their fame do for them? This world’s trusts are frail and poor dependences, when sore need comes. They are refuges of lies, even the best of them. What could Israel’s king do to save his people from the Assyrians? What can friend or gold or honor do for a human soul in time of great struggle, in temptation, in sorrow, in the hour of death, in the day of judgment? A man was found dead at the foot of a precipice. He had fallen from the top. In his hand, clutched tightly, was a dried blade of grass. In his fall he had grasped this but of what help was it to him? Of no more use will earth’s trusts be to him who in life’s great and sore needs clutches at them. They will be only dry straws in his hand. It is a fearful thing to give up God. They thought they had gods but they were only calves of gold. They had a very elaborate ritual of worship but it was all only an empty form. There was no might, no heart of love, no power to help in these calves. Indeed, they could not even take care of themselves, and the people were now in dread lest their enemies should carry away their very deities. “The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.” Instead of turning to their gods for deliverance in their danger, they were in terror lest the gods might be carried away. There is something even ludicrous in the picture the prophet here paints yet it is so true that it has its startling lesson for us. Anything that can be carried away into captivity is not fit to be a god to an immortal soul. Israel’s calf-idol was to be carried to Assyria as a present to the king. Think of one’s god being given as a present to one’s enemy. Toward the close of the chapter, comes a call to repentance. God yearns over His apostate people with all tenderness. He pleads with them to do what is right. “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek Jehovah, until He comes and showers righteousness on you.” It is never too late to repent. At least God never shuts the door on this side of the grave. Here amid the predictions of ruin and sorrow the prophet breaks off to call the people to repentance, and paints for them a vision of hope. Even yet God would have mercy upon them if they would but return to Him. But the returning must be sincere and real. They must sow righteousness, if they would reap mercy. Mercy never can come to the sinner until he comes to God in the way of holiness. The fallow ground must be broken up, before there can be any harvest. The hard heart must be broken with penitence, to receive the good seed of the kingdom. “It is time to seek Jehovah.” Surely it is! The prophet reminds them of what their sin had brought upon them. “But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors.” “Whatever a man sows that shall he also reap,” is as sure and fixed a law of the spiritual as of the natural kingdom. Those who sow righteousness, shall reap mercy. Then it is just as true, that they who sow wickedness, shall reap iniquity; and that they who sow lies, shall reap a harvest of lies. No man should hope to live in sin, doing wrong things and then have the reward of the godly man, peace, joy, and blessing. No one should hope to be untruthful, false, faithless and then have a name of honor, to be trusted and believed by others. One who forms the habit of lying must expect to be regarded as a liar in the community where he lives. As a general rule, we get about what we deserve from our fellow-men, in the way of reputation. Especially in God’s distributions, we may be sure that sooner or later that we shall reap as we have sown! The prophet warned the people of Israel of the doom that was coming upon them if they went on in their evil way. “The roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children. Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel, because your wickedness is great. When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.” Thus the coming of the calamity was foretold. Judgment was sure. Judgment is sure likewise, for every one who is living in sin! It may be delayed, for God is very merciful and waits to be gracious. But it will surely come. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Kings 20, 21, 22 2 Kings 20 -- Hezekiah's Life Lengthened, Shows Treasures to Babylon NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 21 -- Manasseh's and Amon's Wicked Reigns NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 22 -- Josiah's Good Reign; Repair of the Temple; Finding the Lost Book of the Law NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 6:45-71 John 7 -- Jesus Teaches at the Feast of Tabernacles; Diverse Opinions of Him among the People NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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