Gentleness {Thoughtful on a Tuesday}

A mother with her baby...

Soft, falling snow...

Are vivid and real images to me of the word, gentleness.

What do you think of when you hear the word *gentleness*?

*This is part of a series on The Fruit of the Spirit "Fruit for Your Soul"

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

Have a Lovely Day,

Cole

Photo Credits Here

**Sorry about the pictures on some of the "Fruit for Your Soul" posts.
I seem to have lost some of them in my transfer to a new design.

Certain {Thoughtful on a Tuesday}

The world is full of certain uncertainty.
{as my dear friend, Barb, would say...}

It reaches us all.

No one is immune to it.

At one point or another...

we all face certain uncertainty.

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But, the one thing that is certain...

Is the faithfulness of God.

He is "THE" one certain...

"THE" one constant...

"THE" faithful.

Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

Psalm 89:8

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

Deuteronomy 32:4 

When all is stripped away and we are left face-to-face with uncertainty...

God is there.

When you think you don't hear Him.

God is there.

When you think you can't feel Him.

God is there.

When you think you can't "see" Him.

God is there.

God cannot deny Himself.

He will not deny Himself.

God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Numbers 23:19

He is there...

longing for us to come.

To lay-down certain uncertainty...

and be covered in His Faithfulness.

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God is Faithful.

*These is part of a series on The Fruit of the Spirit "Fruit for Your Soul"

{To read the previous in the series just click on the hyper link above.}

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

How does God show His faithfulness in your life?

Have a Lovely Day,

Cole

Good in the "gut punch" times

In college...

I was in a group called the Navigators...

It is while there that we had a saying:

God is good. All the time.

All the time. God is good.

Over the past couple of years there have been some really life changing, deep things happen. It is one of those times that I want to share with you. (out of respect, personal details will be left out...thank you ;))

This last year I received a horrifying call, the kind of call you never want to get. It was evening so I headed to my parents house (they live in the same town). When I got there, I learned that she had been in a car accident. We did not know how bad nor did we know the exact location. We took off right away...me driving...my dad in the passenger seat next to me...making several calls.

It is on that drive that I prayed liked I never had before...

Once there we RAN to her. Past the medics, past the firefighters, all of them. She was conscious, talking, and surrounded by those helping her. It is in those moments that I looked, really looked at what had happened. The entire right fender was gone, the entire right half of the windshield and hood was gone...shards of glass everywhere... It was in those moments that I heard a comment from one responder surveying the scene that punched me in the gut...

It is in the waiting room of the ER praying with friends who came to sit with us until the wee hours and praying w/ our Pastor and Youth-Pastor that I could only thank God. Completely shaken, completely broken, completely in shock (it had set in) that I thanked God. I thanked Him for his Goodness. I thanked Him for protecting my mom, I thanked Him for the car being a BIG car, I thanked him for the first responders, I thanked Him that she could call for help, I thanked Him for family and friends that were there. I thanked Him that she had absolutely no cuts or visible bruises. I thanked Him for the smallest and largest of details that night.

But mostly, over and over....I thanked Him for my mom and the goodness of God in the situation. You see, that's all I could do.

It. was. all. out. of. my. hands. 

In that moment, in that time, God gave me a glimpse of just how Sovereign and in-control He is. That He is Good, All the time. (even when we get "punched" in the gut)

Photo credit courtesy of weheartit

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

The Fruit of Goodness

The Fruit of Kindness

We've been looking at, studying, the Fruit of the Spirit...

Really getting into Galatians 5:22-23 and looking at each "Fruit" at how it applies in each of our lives...

We been looking at the questions...

"What can you do today to live a Holy life? An unnatural life?"...

Letting God change us from the inside out, in...

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control...

(just click on the red names and it will take you to that post...no I didn't forget Love :)...)

  

Today, I want to do something a little different...

I want to share with you some things God is placing on my heart about kindness...

• ~Whether I show or don't show kindness (in words, thoughts, or actions) it is a matter of what is going on in my heart.
• ~Are my words, thoughts, actions kind?
• ~Do I need to show kindness to another (maybe someone who has done wrong my way.)
• ~Never treat wrong for a wrong.
• ~ How will I respond to someone who has not shown kindness my way?
• ~Above all, I need to guard my heart and what influences it. (Garbage In, Garbage out right?...don't let the others not being kind cause you to stumble but shower them with love.) 

It's not always easy to show kindness to others (I know I've been there, we all have)...

whether its a complete stranger who cuts you off while driving or...

someone close who makes a "snarky" comment...

or maybe even worse?

Whatever the circumstance may be...

God calls us to Guard our Hearts...

Out of our hearts, come thoughts, out of our thoughts comes words, 

and out of those words, comes actions.

Are they done in Kindness?

How will you show Kindness to another today?

Ephesians 4:32 (New International Version)Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

1 Thessalonians 5:15 (New International Version)Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

 Photo credit courtesy of weheartit

 

 

 

The Fruit of Patience

Welcome to another day of Fruit for your soul...

Where we take one of the Fruits of the Spirit...

Read about it...

Study it...

Allow God to change us from the inside out...

To love people well...

to Glorify Him in all we do...

to grow closer to Him...

Grab what you need and find a comfortable place...

Allow God to show you, teach you what He wants...

Photo credit courtesy of weheartit

Some great verse look-ups (definitely not all) on Patience...

~Psalm 37:7; 40:1

~Proverbs 14:29; 15:18; 16:32; 19:11

~Romans 12:12

~1 Corinthians 13:4

~Ephesians 4:2

~James 5:7-11

~2 Peter 3:8-9

* It is often hard to be in the "waiting room."

*We can receive wisdom from the Word of God as we learn patience.

*There is understanding in patience.

* God is not slow in keeping His promises.

* He is patient with us.

*Love is patient. (Love others well!)

What verses did you find on patience? What is God showing you?

The Fruit of Peace

The fruit of righteousness will be peace;

Isaiah 32:17a

We are looking at some more awesome verses today from Fruit for your Soul...

Verses to help us and teach us how to live an un-natural life...

A life that honors God and loves people well...

His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path. (Psalm 119:105)...

Are you ready???....

Ready for some more Awesome-ness (that "word" is beginning to grow on me)...

Truths to learn from and live by....

By now you probably already know...

Yes, questions are coming...

Yes, Verses are coming...

I've got my cup of Joe (skinny, caramel latte...pretty sure the caramel factors out the skinny part)....

Grab what you need and let's jump in...

 Awesome-ness of God's Word:

*WOWZA on the number of verses that are on peace/peaceable/peacemakers...

~Psalm 29:11; 34:13-14; 119:165

~Proverbs 12:20

~Isaiah 26:3-4; 32:17

~Ezekiel 37:26-28

~Matthew 9:50

~John 14:27

~Ephesians 2:14-18

~Philippians 4:4-9

~Colossians 3:15-17

~1Peter 3:10-11

What are some Awesome truths you found about Peace today???

Photo credit courtesy of weheartit

The Fruit of Joy

"What can you do today to live a Holy life? An unnatural life?"

This question was posed in Fruit for your soul ...

We are taking a look at Galatians 5:22-23...

Great truths on...

How to live a life that honors God...

Love people well...

Ways that are the opposite of the world...

Today's Fruit is on...

Are you ready?...
Got your Bible, a pen, journal...
Coffee perhaps?...

Questions are a coming...
Verse look-ups are coming...
Use it as resource for the Hope of God...
Allow God to teach you what HE wants to...

"The awesome-ness (is that even a word?) of JOY!
* There are well over a 100 verse entries on Joy (Strong's Concordance/NIV Study Bible)...
*Joy, Joyed, Joyful, Joyfully, Joyfulness, Joying, Joyous, Enjoyed (They are all there)...

*Some great (but not even close to all) verse look-ups...
*Here's where the time with you and God comes in...
*These are a few that stuck out to me...

~Psalm 5:11; 35:9; 63:5; 66:1; 81:1; 95:1-2; 118-24
~Isaiah 49:18; 61:10
~2 Corinthians 7:4
~Zephaniah 3:17
~Romans 15:13
~1 Peter 1:8-9

What are some that stick out to you?

"More Awesome-ness of JOY"
* God wants us to seek Him, to rejoice in Him...
*HE rejoices over us with gladness...
*When we look to Him for our hope, He fills us with unexplainable JOY!...
*We can find JOY in the midst of any circumstance with Him as our guide...

What is some Awesome-ness of JOY that you have found??

Photo credit courtesy of weheartit.com

Fruit for your soul

"What can you do today to live a Holy life? An unnatural life?"

This great question was posed in my Sunday School class this past week...

I won't take credit for it...

But it left me thinking, enough so to share it with you...

Our class took some time and went over Romans 3:9-20 and a verse that stuck out was Romans 3:10a "As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;..." We are all human, we all struggle with the ways of the world. Whether it be our thoughts, words, or actions. But, what can you/I do today to live in such a way that is unnatural to the ways of the world. Through our discussion we came upon the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). 

*Love

*Joy

*Peace

*Patience

*Kindness

*Goodness

*Faithfulness

*Gentleness

*Self-Control

These are the exact opposite to the ways of the world. They are the way to living a life that honors God and a way to love people well. Am I saying I'm perfect? NOPE, not at all. I am human, I have faults, but I have a God who is bigger than that. A God, who when I seek Him, I will find Him. And when you seek Him, you will find Him too!

How do I live this unnatural life you might ask. By diving into the Word of God, giving your time to Him, allowing Him to change you from the insight out. So...over the next couple of weeks we are going to look at these Fruits (food for your soul, good food) and allow them to change us from the insight out.

Are you ready?

Photo credit courtesy of weheartit