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Keep on Producing

Sisters, I want to remind you to hold on to the promises of God.  I recently had to remind myself to do just that—hold on, no matter what.  I received a phone call from my doctor’s office that, for a moment, took my breath away.  I gave myself the grace and space to feel in that moment, and then I remembered what God promised me many years ago.  I had to recite it out loud over and over.  I reached out to my tribe and asked the ladies to pray, and that’s exactly what they did. 

Sisters, we are human, so it’s important for you to allow yourself to have “all the feels” but not be led by them.  I could have driven myself crazy with worry, allowing my mind to run rampant; instead, my response was 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV), “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

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What’s on Your Tree?

For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.

(Luke 6:43-44 NKJV)

If a tree is known by its fruit, I wonder, “What kind of fruit are you bearing, Sister?”  It’s a question worth examining today, because there is so much going on around us.  We know that we reap what we sow, which makes it paramount that we sow good seeds to produce good fruit.  Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV) reminds us of the kind of fruit that God is expecting us to produce:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law. 

This, Sister, is what the Lord is looking for in our lives.  We should produce His attributes in our lives, and we should produce them consistently.  If a tree is known by its fruit, then we must be careful about what we are producing (if we really do desire to reflect the image of our Heavenly Father).  If I sow in anger, frustration, and chaos, I cannot blame God or anyone else for the result because I have chosen to not exhibit His fruit.  It’s an everyday process too.  You have opportunities to sow daily, and there is a great deal of responsibility in each choice.  But, Sister, there are also great opportunities for the manifestation of blessings from your obedience in sowing what pleases the Father.