Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness

These are my extracts from the Joyce Meyer CD box set on the Fruits of the Spirit.

Love

Without love, we will have no joy or peace.

All the fruits of the Spirit come from love.

We need to review how we think about and behave towards other people. Love is an action that we need to put on.

Nothing blocks your ability to develop the fruits of the Spirit like an unmerciful, unforgiving attitude. Don’t be rigid, critical and judgemental about or towards others.

Receive God’s mercy so that you can be merciful with and to others.

Forgiveness means you give somebody a gift; not because they deserve it, but because God calls us to do it.

Joy

Per Psalm 34, look to God and find joy.

Have an attitude of gratitude.

The more you give, the more joyful you get.

Peace (The transcendent fruit)

Per John 14:27, the peace God gives transcends all circumstances.

Per Ephesians 3:17 and Isaiah 32:17, trust in God, and His righteousness, and you will find peace.

Stop bowing down to your feelings.

Patience (The ‘practice makes perfect’ fruit)

This includes endurance, persistence and perseverance.

We want our circumstances to change, but God is more interested in changing us.

Our circumstances are how we get practice. Enjoy where you are while you wait to get where you will be.

Patience is the beginning of love.

Be still and wait on the Lord….and pray.

Kindness and Goodness (The ‘cause and effect’ fruits)

The more you get your mind off you, the happier and freer you will be.

Plan to be a blessing and kind to others.

Goodness is a state of the heart, whereas kindness is the direct action or behaviour that expresses the good within us.

If you want to be happy, put on love, on purpose! Set your mind to it.

Being kind is a deliberate, conscious pursuit you need to focus on.

Faithfulness (The finisher’s fruit)

Faithfulness means being consistent in doing what God asks you to do, and finishing what you start, doing it over and over and over and over again.

Release your OCD and trust God for the outcome.

Compromises include talking negatively, poor health habits, old bad habits = doing a life less than what you know is right. These habits add up to spoiled fruit.

You can be as close to God as you want to be.

God is faithful and you receive a seed of everything God is like within you when you receive Christ.

2 Timothy 2:13 “…He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.”

To be faithful is to do what is right all the time, regardless of the result we are receiving.

“Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not.” Just keep on keeping on.

God is the author and the finisher of our faith: He will enable us to endure, as He has anointed us in faith.

Go deeper with God so you can go higher with Him.

Make progress in persevering in doing good over and over again because it’s what God wants us to do.

True growth and victories start in private, just between you and God, behind closed doors, not in public view.

Receive the same kind of joy that God has per Matthew 25:23.

Do not expect overnight results – God delivers us from our enemies little by little.

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, even if you receive nothing you ask for.