Fruit-Grain-Water - Fall Series pt. 1
Nobody likes rotten fruit! Especially if it is living on the inside of you - like hate, anger, jealousy. In today’s episode, the first episode of our Fall Series, we will chat about the kind of fruit God has placed within us. So, take a few minutes today as we continue to discover what a good Father we have, and how we can be empowered to live a more whole life. Join in now!
Diana’s Notes
Welcome everyone and I am so grateful to you for tuning into Heartfelt Conversations with Diana! It is an honor and privilege to share this time together.
In Last week's episode, I shared a shortened version of My Story that I had recently shared in a small group I was in. I had over 40 years of a dysfunctional, broken life. I did not have the same story as most of the people I was sitting in this class with, and I admit, I was a bit intimidated because my past was so... Well, so much darker and messier and shame-filled than theirs.
But the word of God tells us this…
Romans 3:24 NLT
Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He (God) did this through Christ Jesus (His Son) when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
When Jesus is our Savior and we are seeking God’s ways with our whole heart. It is HIS Spirit within us that equips and enables us to do the things, the work, the discipline it takes to do this life on our own personal faith filled walk with Him.
In the Summer Series we talked about what another great verse in the book of Romans says in the bible…
Romans 8:11
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living in you.
The Spirit of God will give life to your mortal bodies! There is nothing we can’t get through or overcome if we learn to follow Jesus and understand we have His Spirit leading us. But we have to learn how to follow. I guess it’s kinda like driving a car. You have to know what the instruments do, how to stop and go and how to care for the vehicle and know the laws to drive safely. God’s laws are no different than that and they are pretty simple -
Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, Mind, and Soul, and…
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus replied: “You must Love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”
This is the greatest command.
A second is equally important, “love your neighbor as yourself.”
The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
How hard is it to live by two rules, that are good rules, fair rules for everyone?
Well, it’s really hard because following these two basic, simple, easy rules are horribly difficult to keep because they require us to constantly die, put to death, selfish desires and ambitions, To not treat people by the way they make us feel, but rather that we must come to remind ourselves on a daily basis sometimes, they are precious to God. They are living, breathing souls. They might behave like a jack- ass- stubborn, difficult. But, we are called to treat them with the same courtesy, kindness, and thoughtfulness that we would want, expect, hope to have for ourselves. How can people even have a chance to change if they are always beaten down?
Jesus teaches us how to see others the way He sees them, when we tap into that, it becomes a little easier to turn the other cheek because you begin to see the person from a different perspective - heaven’s - God’s. So I am trying to learn to take a step back and allow the Holy Spirit to soften my opinions about anyone or any circumstance and allow myself permission to be lovely, kind, generous, loving, thoughtful, - to people who are not lovely, kind, generous, loving, or thoughtful.
And to know how to have wisdom, discernment and insight in establishing healthy boundaries.
I once had an advertising client who had a sign on his wall that read:
Treat others with respect because of who you are, not because of who they are.
I know it can be really easy to react to the way someone makes us feel, and there are times we have to address things if someone crosses a healthy boundary; however, we can have conversations with people and address difficult situations with respect and kindness rather than anger and accusations, or making another human being feel inferior because of income, or race, or creed. If you are alive and breathing, you are a creation of the Most High God and He loves you beyond all you can imagine.
Verse
Romans 8:37-39
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Learning to love others and see them as Jesus does, is where the Holy Spirit can help us. This is a relationship I would strongly encourage you to develop. And in the future, we will have more conversations about the Holy Spirit, because He was a game changer for the success in my continued healing, stress relief, and ability to trust God and not have to be justified all of the time. Or validated by anyone else other than God. Is it easy, no! But I now have good days, good , happy days knowing I am loved and I do not have to search anymore to find home, to find my people, to find acceptance and safety and rest and comfort. I have found everything I have EVER needed in my Father’s hand. In His protective, guarding, loving hand.
I can let go of things better and not hold anger against people who hurt me. I can forgive earlier, easier and it is genuine because I have come to learn that I am already justified. I already have the eye of God on me. What more affection can you ever need when you come to know you are the apple of God’s eye.
Back to romans again -
Romans 5:1 in the Amplified Bible says:
Therefore, since we have been justified (that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God) by faith, (let us grasp the fact that) we have peace with God (and the joy of reconciliation with Him) through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
One Definition of acquitted is:
Free ( someone) from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty.
“She was acquitted on all counts”
Psalms 17:8 tells us that we are always under God’s tender care and His Love
The Amp Bible reads it like this:
Keep me in Your affectionate care, protect me, as the apple of Your eye. Hide me in the protective shadow of Your wings.
So every time Satan tries to remind God of our guilt, our criminal charge of sin, Jesus steps up as our Advocate, our High Priest, and brings a verdict of not guilty before God and says that was covered, MY blood acquitted her of all her sins every single one past, present, future. She has been weighed and found not guilty by the Blood Of The Lamb.
Of course the entire framework of our relationship with God - whether or not we know, understand, and grasp that we have a right to peace and reconciled joy because of Jesus ) is based on the relationship being built on HIM - Jesus - He is the CORNERSTONE for the very foundation of how we build our lives.
Each and every single day we are making choices of what foundation we are building our lives on and when we have our eyes fixed on Jesus, we can be sure we are on the right path of building that foundation. Which is really a relationship. The closer, the more intimate your relationship with Jesus, the deeper your relationship with God grows and the more you step out by faith in the spirit of God Who leads you as your eyes are fixed. Your eyes are fixed on Jesus so you are not looking to the left or right or behind you or down at your feet or anywhere else so as you gaze on Jesus you reach out by faith and grab a lead rope if you will, and you choose to hold onto that lead rope because you know it will keep you from going off trail. From bumping into doors and walls and obstacles that might hurt you, injure you, delay you.
This is walking by faith, being led by the spirit and as your relationship and trust in God grows this area should grow as well - but there is a huge challenge - a hurdle - a jump-leap of faith that you will have to overcome - Complete obedience and trust in God. Period.
We all want to think we are in control of our lives and our environment around us, but the reality is, we really don’t control any thing or any one other than ourselves. Period there as well. We might not like it, we may fight it tooth and nail because we can’t stand it- but there she is - truth. You cannot be a loving, kind, good person and treat people badly or try to manipulate and control them. Even if you think you have a good reason.
The only way we can treat others with the same love and care we treat ourselves with or want to be treated with is by being filled with God’s spirit. Our natural instinct is to be self-focused, self centered, God’s spirit active and awakened within us helps nurture and produce all of God’s goodness. We are created in the image of God and in His image we have access to His goodness, His fruit of His spirit which are:
According to His word in the New Testament Book of Galatians in Chapter 5 verses 22 & 23 in the New Living Translation it reads:
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against these things!
And there is no love like our Father’s Love!
In last week’s episode I used the parable of the Prodigal son from the bible out of Luke 15 about a father’s love even at the foolish request of his young son.
Luke 15:11 - 13
11 Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons.
12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, I want right knowing what's coming to me.'
13 It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had.
The son disappeared , vanished from the sight and protection of his father. He took his inheritance and scattered it, threw it around, laughing and drinking and gambling and partying, just having a good ole time! I’m not sure of the exact details because the son wanted to leave home. Maybe he was spoiled, maybe he resented his older brother who was always dad’s favorite, such a goody two shoes- know it all. Never did anything wrong according to him and dad. Maybe he was filled with jealousy, resentment, and frustration towards his brother. Maybe he felt invisible to his father. Maybe, he was going through puberty and his emotions clouded his perspective and how he felt became reality rather than knowing feelings can sometimes lead us astray and cause us to make rash decisions. We all know what horrible choices we can make when our hormones are a mess! LOL
Whatever his reasons for leaving - like me, he had to get about as low as a human being can get in life to finally yell “uncle”! “I give”! The pain overrides pride, a humble attitude overrides a rebellious attitude. You relinquish control and recognize you are nothing but dead, dry bones and need the Bread of Life and Living Water to bring life to your entire being. So you can experience the fullness of God.
In order for there to be a complete - whole - reunion - reconciliation between the father and the son, the son had to “see’ recognize, have a clear perspective of how fortunate he really was living under the protection of his father when he squandered his entire inheritance in wild living. He had to be humble enough to see the error of his own choices, the rashness of not taking into account the consequences of his lifestyle.
The father had to be humble as well, being willing to take his son back under his roof, and not only was the father loving and merciful and gracious, he bestowed such honor and recognition of his absolute pleasure and delight that his son was home. Put a ring on him, get the pit ready, call the neighbors. We are having a BBQ BASH like this town has never seen! He was beyond joy!!
But both had to be humble in order for full reconciliation to occur. I could see under different circumstances where this same situation could have turned into some knock-down drag out fight if tempers, pride, and hurt got in the way of what really mattered, Reconciliation and Restoration of their relationship. God is all about preservation of life and relationships.
And so, The power of humility and forgiveness must be a key ingredient to our foundation. Jesus is the perfect mentor, teacher, to follow in these areas so that we can come to know the satisfaction in life we all seek after. That satisfaction, that contentment of self and life comes only in a whole. Complete. Life in Christ - knowing exactly who and whose you are. When you know that and when you learn how to follow Jesus and how to arm yourself against the spiritual darkness, you will begin to experience life as God designed for you to have.
Just like the father rejoiced and threw a party for his son, our Heavenly Father and all of heaven rejoices when we repent and turn from our wrong way of living and turn back towards Him.
Having a humble attitude (not thinking more highly of ourselves than we should) and learning to forgive often and quickly will help us bloom into a new life, a new beginning.
This week let’s remember that we have more power and Holy Spirit power when we continue to dispense humility and forgiveness throughout our day to others, as we would like to be given to us, but we do it not with expectation but with generosity of spirit.
Then, let's meditate on the Fruit of God’s love - that it is His Spirit that we can tap into when we are too weak on our own to love someone who has hurt us, lied to us, cheated us. But, when we release the unforgiveness and love them with God’s kinda of love, somehow, He supplies it back to us into our own lives. It is remarkable!!
Let’s also begin to learn to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. If you are still and tune in, you will learn to recognize His voice, His promptings because if we do Galatians tells us what he will produce in our lives, listen:
Galatians 5: 22-23 in the New Living Translation it reads:
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against these things.
And with that - next week we will pick back up on our Fall Series!
So - Keep your Chin Up - Eyes fixed on Jesus!
A spirit-led life that lines our perspective up with what God’s word says, not the world. That is walking by faith. Trusting God.
And remember…
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing…
Zephaniah 3:17 ESV
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
God Bless!!
Songs to inspire you
Big Daddy Weave - Let It Begin (Official Music Video)
TobyMac - I just need U. (Lyric Video)
Chris Tomlin - Indescribable (Lyrics And Chords)
Scriptures from This Weeks Podcast
Romans 3:24 NLT
Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He (God) did this through Christ Jesus (His Son) when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Romans 8:11
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living in you.
Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus replied: “You must Love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”
Romans 5:1 in the Amplified Bible says:
Therefore, since we have been justified (that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God) by faith, (let us grasp the fact that) we have peace with God (and the joy of reconciliation with Him) through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Psalms 17:8 tells us that we are always under God’s tender care and His Love
The Amp Bible reads it like this:
Keep me in Your affectionate care, protect me, as the apple of Your eye. Hide me in the protective shadow of Your wings.
Luke 15:11 - 13
11 Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons.
12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, I want right knowing what's coming to me.'
13 It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had.
Galatians 5: 22-23 in the New Living Translation it reads:
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against these things.
Foundation Verse
Romans 8:11
The Spirit of God, Who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Chrisr Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living in you. “
Additional Resources
Prayer of Salvation
Jesus has given salvation, healing, and countless benefits to all who call upon His name. These benefits can be yours if you receive Him into your heart by saying this prayer:
Heavenly Father, I come to You admitting that I am a sinner. Right now, I choose to turn away from sin, and I ask You to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. I believe that Jesus rose again from the dead so that I may be justified and made righteous through faith in Him. I call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of my life. Jesus, I choose to follow You, and I ask that You fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit. I declare right now that I am a born again, child of God. I am free from sin and full of the righteousness of God. I am saved in Jesus’ name. Amen.
This prayer and the comment above, were taken out of the book:
Secrets to Powerful Prayer - Discovering the Languages of the Heart
By Lynne Hammond and Patsy Cameneti
If you have just received Jesus as your Savior, please write Lynne Hammond Ministries at:
PO Box 29469
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55429-2946
Or, email one of the ministries listed on the Additional Resources Tab and let them know that you are a brand new christian and need some direction on the next steps for your new life in Christ.
Or email us here at Heartfelt Conversations with Diana and we will pass along your information for you.
Congratulations if you are a brand new Christian or if you have Returned Home! Welcome!!! Get in God’s Word and get it into you!
Diana’s Home Church:
Valley Family Church - Pastor’s Eric and Alexa Jones
www.valleyfamilychurch.org
Other recommended Jesus-centered churches who teach the True Word of God:
Elevation Church - Steven Furtick
https://elevationchurch.org/
Joseph Prince Ministries - Joseph Prince
https://www.josephprince.org/
Joyce Meyer Ministries
https://joycemeyer.org/