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)