Never Change!

I was talking with my cousin last night and I somehow ended up sharing some fun memories of my wife in high school (very new and young girlfriend at the time…) when she would drive her dad’s vintage WWII Jeep to school.  She would pick up a couple of friends along the way and provide a ride for them as well.  In fact, they even got a picture in our senior high yearbook of them turning into the school parking lot one morning!  And as usual… Piper had a big smile on her face as she signaled for a left-hand turn!

When I think of Piper from our early days of acquaintance in high school and then through the ensuing forty-eight years, I have to say that in many important aspects… she NEVER changed.  She was the same fun-loving, encouraging and spiritually sensitive women as she had been from her school days and through adulthood… when days before she passed on to glory, she suddenly turned to me, broke free from the stupor of Alzheimer’s and with that familiar “I gottcha look” on her face, smiled at me and distinctly declared, “I love you!”  And then she turned away and the glassy look in her eyes returned.

If one were to ask me what it was that made her that way, I would… without a moment’s hesitation… state that it was because of who she was on the inside and of the good treasures of her heart that she continually contributed to throughout her 65 years on this planet.

My recent study on the Fruit of the Spirit led me to a verse of scripture that seems to perfectly summarize my wife.  When speaking to the multitudes who had gathered around Him, Jesus one day taught that,

“A good man (or woman) out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. (Matthew 12:35-37 EMTV)

I can honestly say of Piper, that it was out of the good treasure of her heart from whence bubbled forth the love, the joy, the peace, the comfort and the never-ending flow of encouraging words, that caused her to NEVER change throughout all the years of our life… encompassing all the good times as well as the more challenging ones.

As I was initially observing today’s verses through the context of the Fruit of the Spirit as Paul discussed in Galatians 5:22-23* I was more than a little surprised when I realized the subject of whom Jesus was teaching in Matthew 12:35-37… and it also caused me to look at the “FRUIT” from a differing viewpoint!

You see… you and I are the subject of whom Jesus was referring to!  Jesus bluntly told the people in the crowd in that day (many of whom were leaders in the Jewish religion) as well as to us in the here and now, that… “Your very words will be used as evidence against you, and your words will declare you either innocent or guilty.” (TPT)

Stated in plain English, Jesus is telling us that the words that we speak, are more about us and for our benefit than they are for the one’s we may be speaking to or about!  That, to me, makes me want to make sure that the words I choose to speak to or about someone else are not only truthful, helpful and encouraging… but also spoken out in love and with a humble heart… as well as at the right time and in the right place… and if spoken at all!

This truth also helps me to NOT get upset when I hear people with different political, moral, religious and/or personal viewpoints than I have… and especially with many of the blatant lies that I hear these folks speaking in criticism of what I hold fast in my heart as the truth of God and His Word.  For God’s Word tell us that the words that we speak… these folks as well as yours and mine will come back to haunt us because, “By your words you will be declared innocent, or by your words you will be declared guilty." (God’s Word ©)

Up until my most recent study, I had always considered the Fruit of the Spirit to be characteristics or “various expressions”** of God’s love that would be expressed through me to others in need… but now I am learning that they can also be the “various expressions”** of God’s love that He will minister to me when I am in need… because of or through the words of love that I speak and allow to guide my daily activities of life!

Pretty cool wouldn’t you agree!

You know the more I think about Piper… and the more I remember of her… the more like her I want to be… because she always set her daily sights on being Christ-like in everything she did… as well as with every word she spoke.  Like I said, she NEVER CHANGED from when I first got to know her in eleventh grade English ‘til I said goodbye on Sunday, September 2, 2018 at around 5:30 in the morning. 

It always seemed right to me that she should “Go Home” to heaven on a Sunday morning.  Sunday was always one of her favorite days of the week and she got to start her first full week in her new digs celebrating in a heavenly church service!

Have a terrific week as we bask in our beautiful fall weather… and as you do… Keep speaking God’s best words… while EXPECTING His BEST for both those you speak to… as well as for yourself!

 

*Please refer to our last six blog post for a somewhat detailed examination of these verses at:  http://pjberruto.blogspot.com/

** See Galatians 5:22-23 in The Passion Translation

Working God's Plan

I know that I have mentioned this on various occasions, but it is worth repeating in today’s post… being that my wife and I made a really good team!  We started working together as a team even before we officially started dating each other.  Whether it was organizing a day at the beach with our group of friends, a softball game at Howarth Park, or helping to organize and lead different events as seniors in high school or sliding into leadership roles at Piper’s church from high school on… we simply flowed together with a great sense of simpatico… and it only got better as the years went on!

I am not totally sure why or how it came about… but we both seemed to have a knack, a talent or the natural ability to plan, organize and lead big events, be it for school, church, work and/or family activities!  That’s probably one of the many reasons that we enjoyed family camping.  We always tried to make it a very special event for our kids.  There were even a few times where I planned and put together a complete retreat-like curriculum for our kids and Piper and I to participate in during our week-long stays in the Redwoods or the Sierra’s.

Piper and I tended to have different giftings that blended well and flowed between us when we operated in these leadership positions.   And when I wrote programs for the Youth group or Children Church events, I would knowingly intertwine each of our individual talents, giftings and unique experiences into the presentation plans!  And it is not like we had to sit down and talk through these steps (unless it was for a particular part in a play or musical number) for we just tended to smoothly inter-act and automatically step in when and where needed.

As the years of our relationship increased, we grew more assured of the innerworkings of our team and basically took much of it for granted while thanking the Lord for His blessings upon our marriage and ministry.

But my confidence in that flow between us was greatly shaken when we were asked to take over the Children’s Church ministry at our home church following our three years stay for Bible School in Oklahoma.  The very first time I picked up my guitar and began to lead the group in a fun song to start a Sunday morning Children’s’ service, I knew that I was in trouble!  The kids noticeable lack of participation starkly reminded me that with the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, our two-person team was not functioning like it used to… as my co-leader, cheer-leader and confident inter-actor with the kids was no longer able to physically and cognitively flow with me and the students as we had before.

Lately, I have once again been feeling a huge hole in what had always been a two-person parenting… and grand-parenting team… for our children and their kids!  Having to step into the role of both grandpa and grandma (or Mee-Maw as the kids called Piper), has been an eye opener for me.  Not that it has been a difficult one, but one that has and continues to take a steep learning curve for me.  Piper, similar to her homeschooling teacher role, was a natural with the kids and I (to be perfectly honest) simply followed her lead!  And without her… well… there has been no lead to follow!  But I am thankful that I knew her and her heart so well, that I can many times flow in a similar anointing as she did!

That said… I would have to say… that there is nothing more exciting than to have your two-year-old grandson drop whatever he is doing and run up to grandpa with his arms up and a big smile on his face… it kind of makes all the effort well-worth it… RIGHT?

In my Christian walk over the years, I have also come to see how the workings of the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives, run very similar to the continuity that Piper and I had between us.  In Galatians 5:22-23, the Apostle Paul wrote that,

“The FRUIT produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine LOVE in all its varied expressions: JOY that overflows, PEACE that subdues, PATIENCE that endures, KINDNESS in action, a life full of GOODNESS, FAITH that prevails, GENTLENESS of heart, and SELF-CONTROL. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” (TPT) 

Piper and I, and probably most of you reading this today, know that in order for a marriage to flow smoothly and last for a lifetime, both partners have to be committed to make it work… but not just to make it work, but to do your best to make your marriage relationship rewarding, open to continual growth, exciting and just plain FUN! 

I think the FUN we kept very much alive in our relationship is the part of Piper’s and my marriage that I remember the most!  I can’t tell you how many times a day when I’ll see a picture on the wall or capture a thought that makes me suddenly burst out laughing over a memory of something FUN and or silly that she did, I did or that we experienced together! 

All those activities stirred the embers of our love and respect for each other and fine-tuned the “oneness” that we operated in with our family, ministry and pretty much everything we did!  The FUN and other “tools” of our marriage that we continued to work on through the years helped to keep us unified and function as a hand-crafted and well-oiled machine!

In its discussion of the Fruit of the Spirit, the Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary states that “the singular FRUIT (of the Spirit), as compared with the plural works (of the flesh), suggests that the effect of the Spirit’s inworking is one harmonious whole.”  In other words, the Fruit of the Spirit’s various expressions of LOVE (as our verse describes them) work best when they are in sync or in harmony with each other… and believe me when I say that the “FRUIT” operating in this type of “oneness” is a most beautiful thing to behold… whether you are the giver or the receiver!

But be warned! 

Not all people out there will always be receptive to the operation of the “FRUIT” in your life.  Most times, from what I’ve experienced, it is because the individual is having a difficult time in believing that people can be that nice or calm in the midst of trying situations.  And that happens for various reasons like, they’ve never seen the “FRUIT” in operation in their lives, or they think it is make believe, impossible or has some devious motive behind the action.  They might also realize that it is not the way that they would have responded and could be angry, fearful and maybe a bit jealous that they didn’t or couldn’t respond as you did!

But no matter what the response is to your allowing the “FRUIT” of the Spirit to function in your life… DON’T STOP!  Many times, a negative reaction can give us an opportunity to gently share the Good News of the Gospel of LOVE with the individuals involved!

And my advice would be to look for opportunities in your everyday life in which to practice and hone your skills in applying the FRUIT of the Spirit to the situations you face.  I really like how The Passion Translation explains the various expressions of the “FRUIT” and in particular describing the characteristic of PEACE as a “PEACE that SUBDUES!”  Which leads me to understand (through study and personal experience) that it is speaking of a PEACE that SUBDUES the circumstances of life that we find ourselves involved with each and every day.

That kind of PEACE tends to keep you protected from the indoctrination of FEAR and the ways that it wants you to respond when things turn upside down.  It helps you to maintain an attitude of SELF-CONTROL… and allows for the other expressions of the “FRUIT” to manifest themselves as needed and bring solutions and safety into your midst.  It’s the various expressions of LOVE working as “one harmonious whole” right-smack-dab in the middle of the natural situation around you… bringing physical, emotional and spiritual answers to your day!

…And if you listen closely… you might just hear the Holy Spirit inside you say: “I love it when a plan (God’s plan) comes together! 

Have a great conclusion to your week, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING God’s best working in you, for you and through you, by the operation of the FRUIT of the Spirit in the various situations of your life!

Fruity People!

I was thinking today about a very special experience, a long time ago, that Piper and I had during one of our two-night holidays together at the Inn at the Tides on the Sonoma County coast in Bodega Bay, California.  I remember that it was soon after the Christmas holidays sometime in the month of January.  The weather was nice when we got there in the early afternoon, but by the time we were eating our dinner in our room, a Pacific storm had blown in and rain was pelting against the large windows in the room.

I had been saving up for months and was able to combine some cash gifts from Christmas and finally purchase a hand-held programmable UHF/VHF band scanner.  I guess you could say that I had developed a hobby over the years of listening to the local radio traffic from all the emergency service agencies, with my big and bulky tabletop scanner at home… and the storm that evening made for a perfect excuse to listen to the new scanner I had bought! 

What I recall most of all from that evening was Piper and I sitting comfortably before the roaring fire that I had built in the room’s fireplace, totally warm and protected from the havoc that was going on outside of our windows.  As expected, it turned out to be a fairly active night for the local volunteer fire departments, the Sheriff’s department, the CHP and the resident Coast Guard station… just across the bay from our room.

We never ventured outside of the room that night, but instead, thoroughly enjoyed our time, wrapped up together on the little couch near the radiating heat coming from the fireplace.  In the morning we awoke to bright blue skies and an unusually sunny and warm day that we enjoyed by walking across the coastal highway and into the little town of Bodega Bay.

The room that night was a safe and sound haven to us as we listened to the reports over the radio concerning the storm and the negative effects that it’s strong winds and heavy rain had caused… resulting in local damage to trees and property in the very rural areas around the town.  As we waked hand in hand around the little hamlet the next day, we found ourselves reflecting on how our room could be likened to the protection given to us by our active participation in the tenets of our Christian faith… all the while the storms of life blow and inflict damage around us.

Paul talked about the fruit that is produced by the Christian’s active participation in the tenets of their faith by declaring,

“But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine LOVE in all its varied expressions:

JOY that overflows,

PEACE that subdues,

PATIENCE that endures,

KINDNESS in action,

a life full of GOODNESS,

FAITH that prevails,

GENTLENESS of heart,

and SELF CONTROL!”

Then he concludes his thoughts with the powerful statement that tends to deny intellectual logic by saying that we should,

“Never set the law (of DO and DON’T judgements) above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” *

The New Testament in Modern English translation by J.B. Phillips paraphrased Paul’s meaning here by expressing this portion of scripture as “--- and NO law exists against any of them (ie; the fruit listed above).

In the warmth of our room, as we snuggled together with the lights dimmed down, in the golden glow of the fire… with the storm pounding down all around us, Piper and I definitely felt encompassed by LOVE as we luxuriated in an atmosphere of JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITH, with an almost tangible sense of GENTLENESS of heart that palpitated between us and the security of SELF-CONTROL from any effects of fear that the storm might have tried to generate in us individually or together.

And that’s exactly how the fruit of the Spirit can and will work in us, for us and through us unto others, whenever the storms of life come.  But there is an interesting and all-important caveat to the manifestation of the Fruit of the Spirit in our daily lives that Paul mentions at the beginning of this lesson when he states that, “the fruit (is) produced by the Holy Spirit within you…”  It’s not a response or as some might say, “a super-power” that we just sling out on our own without any help from the Holy Spirit who comes to live in our hearts when we accept Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord.

They are Christian characteristics that we must develop and practice in the daily events of life… but it is not as easy as it sounds… mainly because it is usually the direct opposite to the ways of the world in which we live.  You see, people without Christ in this world are led by their five senses.  By what they see, hear, touch, taste and smell in the natural realm around them.  But as a born-again Christian, we have additional senses in the spiritual realm of God, that are led and taught by the Holy Spirit… and our active and participative faith in His abilities, have the power to override the results predicted by happenings within the natural realm.

Which means that while people around us may react to the different events in life with anger or hate, deep sadness or depression, and a sometimes scary and fear-driven lack of peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and an absolute absence of self-control with the prevalent displays of faithlessness… we, on the other hand, can stop and NOT yield to these negative responses and allow the Holy Spirit to flow in us, for us and through us with the soothing and constructive Fruits of the Spirit!

The manifestation of the Fruit of the Spirit makes us to stand apart from the rest of the World.  They help us to be a light in dark places and a hope to the otherwise hopeless.  But as with any other positive presence in our world… there are those who don’t like what we are carrying inside of us.  To some it’s a threat, to others it seems too good to be true, and it can be very scary to those who don’t care for (or are afraid of) change in their lives.  Have you ever met someone like that?

We’ll look at that aspect in our next post… but until then just remember Paul’s concluding words when he emphatically stated that when manifested… there is no law and no judgements that can successfully exist against the Fruit of the Spirit working in, for and through us to a hurting world!

Have a terrific weekend.  You’d think that the official arrival of fall came a week early out here in northeastern Oklahoma, as the weather has become more comfortable and there is a noticeable (slight) chill in the air during Fiver’s and my morning walks!  I even wore a light hoodie a few mornings this week!  And in whatever you do… and wherever you go, keep EXPECTING God’s best for your life and continue to be a blessing to others by allowing the Fruit of the Spirit to flow passionately through you!

 

*Galatians 5:22-23 – The Passion Translation/God’s Word © (parathesis by author)

RELATIONSHIP

Most people readily picked up on the idea that I loved my wife when I would regularly take her out and about when she was confined to a wheelchair, while dealing with the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s.  And how did I know this?  Because people would stop us and tell me so…  Whether it was the Safeway we frequented near our little cluster home in our hometown in California, walking around the beautifully appointed landscape at the luxury apartment homes we first lived in after moving to North Carolina or in the little towns of Fuquay-Varina or Lillington near where we settled in the countryside and purchased our dream home… wherever we went someone would inevitably stop us and share their observations with us. 

I was told on numerous occasions, that Piper and I were the talk of the leadership team from the Hospice group that helped to care for Piper in her final year and a half.  To me… it was not as if I really did anything different or special.  I had loved her since the first days that we started dating and her getting sick didn’t change a thing… if anything… it increased my love and devotion toward her.  But in reality, I just did what I thought was the normal response of any husband toward the woman with whom they had a loving relationship with.  I was told by many of the health professionals that we worked with though, that my way of thinking was not necessarily the norm!

And you know… as I have continued to study about the Fruit of the Spirit, as outlined by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-23, I am becoming more and more convinced that my response, caused by my intimate and at “one” relationship with Piper, is the same type of response that our heavenly Father wants us to demonstrate in our daily lives… because of our personal, up close and at “one” relationship with His son Jesus Christ.  In this portion of scripture, the Apostle Paul teaches that,

“The fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you IS DIVINE LOVE IN ALL ITS VARIED EXPRESSINS:  JOY that overflows, PEACE that subdues, PATIENCE that endures, KINDNESS in action, a life full of GOODNESS, FAITH that prevails, GENTLENESS of heart, and SELF-CONTROL. (&) Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.”  (TPT/GW)

This particular portion of God’s Word has always had a special place in my heart, as I am reminded of it daily and the sweet memory associated with it… by the wall hanging of this verse, that Piper and I purchased from the old Christian bookstore that used to be in downtown Santa Rosa during the very first year of our marriage… way back in 1975.

It was part of a three-piece scripture-based, framed set that we put together and were able to buy for 50% off.  For some reason that event has been permanently etched upon my heart.  I vividly remember how excited we were about the purchase and the “hot” deal we got for what would become our first, personally picked-out wall decorations for our little apartment!

For years they hung together as a decorative threesome, but by the time we got into our last family home in 1998, they were split up with the two smaller frames hanging individually in the kid’s rooms and the larger one as the major decoration in Piper’s and my master bath.  Today the only one left hanging is the Fruit of the Spirit wall hanging that holds a predominate place in my study, over one of my favorite childhood pictures of my darling wife.  The large one eventually sustained some water damage while the other smaller frame is still packed away somewhere!

It is interesting to note, that although I’ve known this verse of scripture for years, taught on it and even wrote a Children’s Church song about it… I’ve never quite understood it until recently!  Like many of us, I have always thought of each of the Fruit as individual qualities or characteristics of a Christian that are activated as we may need them throughout our daily lives.  But the more I have been studying them over the past few weeks, the more that I am convinced that they are all highly dependent on and empowered by each other!

I guess you could say that they are all in a relationship with each other as an integral part of our individual, close-knit, intimate and highly personal relationship with Jesus!  And as in my loving relationship with Piper… come good times or bad… they are actively and purposely demonstrated in and through all of our daily and normal interactions with each other… as well as with those we come into contact with in our daily lives.  As a Christian… the Fruit of the Spirit is just an active part of who we are!

In The Poor Man’s Commentary, Robert Hawker wrote that the Fruit of the Spirit, “define the character of those born of God.”  The Popular New Testament states that the specific usage of the term “One ‘fruit,’ in distinction of the many ‘works of the flesh,’ indicates the unity of the spiritual graces which are comprehended in love.”  

Thayer’s Greek Definitions sums it up nicely when describing the fruit of ‘faith’ (in combination with the other parts of the ‘fruit’) by declaring that it is “the conviction of the truth of anything… and in the NT, of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things.”

So, they are not individual characteristics that we have to think about and put into use when things go south in our lives… but instead, an automatic flow of the grace of the Holy Spirit in just about everything we do!  The Popular New Testament goes on to say that “The fruit is produced by the grace of God” while the Geneva Bible Translation Notes explains that the fruit “are not the fruits of free will, but only as far forth as our will is made free by grace.”

Therefore, the participation and active demonstration of the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives is solely dependent upon our ever-increasing relationship with the grace of God and the working of the Holy Spirit in us.

The reason I never blinked when it came to the idea of me being the one to take personal care for my wife in her time of need (even though I received some harsh criticism for it), was due to the 39 years (at the time) of building a faith-filled relationship with God, in cooperation with a trusting, close-knit, very personal and intimate relationship with her.  My actions were simply a natural response to those two all-important relationships.  And believe me… during those last eight years of her earthly existence, there was never a moment when portions of each of the Fruit of the Spirit wasn’t working between us!

What about you?  How are the Fruit of the Spirit interacting within your daily life?

Have a great week, and as you do… Keep incorporating the Fruit of the Spirit in cooperation with your ever-increasing EXPECTATION of the Goodness of God in all that you do!

PEACE!

I have to admit that I was deeply upset by the divisive speech that our President made last week, prior to the national celebration of Labor Day, here in the United States.  It bothered me, not only because it was very hostile and unsettling to at least half the population of our country… but also because the majority of it was blatantly false!

But I think the real reason that I reacted the way I did, is because it caused me to relive many painful memories of similar false reporting, anger and discord that was pointed directly at me in the early and most difficult days of my wife’s debilitating and eventually fatal illness.  The Lord though is good and used my sensitivity to the event as another opportunity to teach me a lesson or two.

Like He always does… He immediately brought me back to His Word and reminded me of Paul’s instruction to the Galatian church where he taught them about the fruit of the Spirit declaring,

“But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, PEACE that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and Self-Control. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” (Galatians 5:22-23 TPT-God’s Word ©)

The fruit of the Spirit of PEACE is defined in the original Greek usage as “quietness, rest, harmony, peace between individuals, concord and felicity, because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous.”*  With my wife’s and my musical background and church involvement in leading praise and worship services, I found myself automatically drawn to the idea and importance of harmony.

I had been the lead singer in a rock band during my days in junior and senior high, but had never sung harmony.  In fact, I didn’t know too much about it until I met my wife-to-be in high school.  Her family occasionally sang specials at their church and Piper was the designated alto, and thereby sang the harmony line to the songs they performed. 

By the time I came around she had a good understanding of harmonies and was quite adapt in singing them with just about any song.  When she and I sang our first special together at her church, when we were attending the local community college, she and her mom taught me a harmony to the song… and if I don’t say so myself… we sounded pretty sweet together… although it took me awhile to be able to hear and then sing at a different pitch than she was singing… and when I missed my notes… it definitely created a noticeable dissonance and jarring to the beauty of the music and lyrics.

Now, if one was to employ the same idea and terminology to a relationship, marriage and family and then fast forward… say about 36 years, Piper and I could accurately say that we had developed a strong and well-pleasing song of melodious harmony between us.  But that harmony was threatened with jarring dissonance from outside sources when she was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

And even though the circumstances and characters were totally different, the methods used were identical to the tactics that I heard presented through the President in his recent national speech.  Dissonance is defined by the Oxford Online Dictionaries as “a tension or clash resulting from the combination of two disharmonies or unsuitable elements.”  Dictionary.com says that it produces “inharmonious or harsh sounds, discord and cacophony” which is defined as “a discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds.”

In other words, it is a jumble of information… whether true or false – as it really doesn’t matter -  because it is solely meant to produce discord, anger, fear, disharmony and many times incite physical altercations and or destruction.  It is also meant to turn the eyes of those involved away from the answers in God’s Word and have them focus instead on the hopelessness inherent to the turmoil that is being stirred up.

But just like it did for us back then and is still doing today, the power of God’s PEACE can and will override, silence and then replace the jarring dissidence with a “harmony in life that brings PEACE and felicity to make and keep things safe and prosperous.”  A beautiful and melodious harmony that is totally independent from the circumstances of life and the harsh noises that accompanies them.

Wuest’s Word Studies tells us that the fruit of the Spirit of Godly PEACE is the uniquely special “PEACE in our hearts that is defined as tranquility of mind based on the conciseness of a right relation to God.” It is an “inside” of the heart fruit of the Spirit that directly affects and influences the mind of men and women and their physical responses to the circumstances of life.

I wasn’t fully aware of how much the negative effects that the disharmony and dissidence, during the years between 2009 and when we moved away to North Carolina in the summer of 2014, had affected Piper and I until one warm day in the spring of the following year, when I pulled the Mustang out of our apartment garage and parked next to a nearby rose garden in order to put the top down on the car.  As I walked around the car to help Piper to get her hat on, I was suddenly over-whelmed with the sense of PEACE that I felt at the beauty of the day and how sweet and beautiful Piper looked (despite her crippled appearance) against the backdrop of the car’s red leather seats and the swarm of red roses next to her!  In that moment of time, I noticed how quiet it was… not only in the little commons area park at the apartments but inside of me!  The jarring was gone and the peace of God was flooding our souls.

So, while outside sourcing are once again attempting to blow the trumpets of discord, disharmony and dissidence within our great country… I now know that we, YES!  YOU and I have the answer to protect ourselves and our loved ones… and at the same time, silence the jarring noises whose purpose is to divide us and distract us from God’s Word which contains His answers for our country!

If you’re anything like me… then you are going to cultivate the fruit of God’s Spirit of PEACE in you, and then let that PEACE fill you and then work THROUGH you to positively effect a hurting and confused nation!

 

*Strong’s and Thayer’s

The Band of Graces!

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of my wife’s passing on to glory on September 2, 2018.  I had been thinking about the upcoming date toward the end of last week, but to be honest… I didn’t even think about it yesterday until our youngest daughter asked me how I was doing when I picked her and the grandkids up to go grocery shopping for their camping adventure this weekend.

We both took that as a positive sign as life without her has been slowly getting easier with the passing of time.  It is not like I don’t think of her though, because she is always on my mind, but the personal sadness and emptiness has been transitioning into smiles of joy as I think about her being home, with our heavenly Father in heaven!  I mean let’s face it.  I saw the tremendous damage that the Alzheimer’s did to her physical body for eight long years and to know that according to God’s Word she is now “holy happy and perfect in his presence.” (Ephesians 1:4/Psalm 16:11 God’s Word ©) …well, one can’t help but shout and rejoice for her good fortune! 

Piper was a very grace-full women.  She was the most spiritually sensitive individual that I have known and used her grace-full-ness to sweetly and practically apply the truth of God’s Word into her daily life, and in particular, into the situations that she was involved with… no matter where she was, be it in our home, at church, in the neighborhood, at the store or wherever she was at any given moment in time.

In speaking about the Fruit of the Spirit as stated in the Biblical book of Galatians,* the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary calls out LOVE and declares it to be “the leader of the band of Graces.”  And when I refer to my wife as being a very grace-full woman, these are the nine GRACES that I am declaring her to have been full of!

John Wesley in his “Notes on the Bible” (1754-1765) wrote that “LOVE is the root of all the rest” of the fruit of the Spirit, while the Popular New Testament Commentary declares that “LOVE (is) the fundamental Christian grace which comprehends all others and ‘holds heaven and earth in its embrace.’”  And then there is Adam Clarke who sort of wrapped it all up saying that LOVE is, “An intense desire to please God, and to do good to mankind; (Its) the very soul and spirit of all true religion; the fulfilling of the law, and what gives energy to faith itself”

After being with Piper for 48 years, I can honestly say that Clarke’s summarization of the root and/or foundation of the Fruit of the Spirit of LOVE, was the blazing fire that stirred deep in the heart of her.  It was the energy that led her to respond to just about everyone she ever met with a spontaneous attitude and heart of “JOY that overflows, PEACE that subdues, PATIENCE that endures, KINDNESS in action, a life full of GOODNESS, FAITH that prevails, GENTLENESS of heart and” an almost inconceivable ability of “SELF-CONTROL!” (Galatians 5:22-23 TPT)

I’m sure that all of us have seen or know of certain individuals who tend to be lacking when it comes to exercising the “Social Graces” in many of the different situations that we experience during our lifetimes.  I was never made more aware of this than when Piper got sick and I found myself at awe on many occasions when someone said something to me or about our situation that was totally out of place, ignorant of the facts or just plain hurtful… and most times they had NO idea of what they had said and just continued the conversation… completely oblivious to the bomb that they had dropped!

But you know?  If one continues to study about, grow in their understanding of and keep exercising the Fruit of the Spirit, they’ll never have to be concerned with saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.  The band of GRACES of the Fruit of the Spirt will always lead you to perform the proper “SOCIAL GRACES” every time… And Piper was to me… and the many others who knew her… the living, breathing proof of that!

So… How do you know which FRUIT is the right one at any given time?  Well, that’s simple!  Just walk in LOVE and let His LOVE guide you!

Have a terrific holiday weekend, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING to walk in God’s LOVE, which is His BEST fruit for yourself and those around you!

 

*Galatians 5:22-23