Prove It!

Prove It!

I love it when The Lord reminds me of a lesson He has been teaching me.  I don't think I will ever master some of them this side of heaven and that's why I need reminders.  Today's reminder came from listening to my favorite morning show on the radio, KCBI with Jeff & Rebecca.  I only get to listen for about 20 minutes in the car as I am taking kiddos to school and I always enjoy every minute of it. It is often a source of inspiration as it was today.  I had been wondering what I was going to blog about and on this morning's program was one of those reminders.

As a child, I had an abusive step-father for many years.  He often said these words to me: "You are so stupid! You are never going to amount to anything when you grow up."  When he said this to me I would think "You just wait until I grow up and we will see who the stupid one is!" For a long time after, it seemed to me that I had been so strong in those moments, that I hadn't allowed his hateful words to crush me.  

Over the years I have come to realize that, although I wasn't crushed by his statements, I was indeed broken because I felt compelled that I needed to prove him wrong.  What he said about me couldn't be right and I would not allow it to be.  That's a lot of pressure to put on one's self. It may look like confidence but it becomes bondage because when you are always striving to prove someone wrong, you are never free to just be who God created you to be. 

That bondage also carried over into other relationships for me.  I ended up in conflict with someone at a church I attended over something I was sure God had called me to do. This wasn't something I had taken lightly, I had sought counsel and prayed over it. Since I was already carrying this big chip on my shoulders, I was deeply wounded and offended when my motives were misjudged and I wanted to rise up and prove them wrong.  God calls us chosen, blessed, redeemed.  He wants us to step out in faith to minister to others.  He gives us gifts and talents to do that so  I also wanted to prove what God says about me was right.  That there was a calling on my life. Because if I could prove God right, then that would definitely prove my ex-step-father wrong. 

As I struggled with this "I'll show you mentality", God began to reveal to me that He already knows my heart. He knows all of my thoughts. He is my perfect judge and advocate. He is my redeemer, creator, loving father.  And then He impressed upon me that I do not have to prove anyone else wrong, because God knows the truth anyways and what do man's opinions really matter? We are not to seek our affirmations from the people around us, we are to look to Christ for our identity, (Galatians 1:10). I also do not have to prove God right either. He is sovereign, almighty, all powerful.  What can I possibly do to defend His honor that He can't do a million times better. What can I possibly do to force His purpose to be fulfilled in my life in my timing? Nothing at all. He is the author and perfecter of my faith, my calling, the purpose He has for my life.  He simply calls me to submit to being remade in His image and to follow His lead.  He is calling you to the same.

God loves you! It doesn't matter what the world thinks or what you are unfairly criticized for as long as you are chasing after Christ. There is nothing any amount of striving can accomplish so believe what God says about you and REST in it. You don't have to prove anything, you don't have to prove anyone wrong and you don't have to prove God right either.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession..."

1 Peter 2:9a NASB

Cherry Fargo

Being ReMade

Day Ten: SELF-CONTROL

   Day Ten ~ SELF-CONTROL

Key Bible Verse- 

Titus 2:111-12

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

Thoughts to ponder- 

Self-control is the last of the fruit of the Spirit, possibly the most challenging for many of us. This is the power switch for harvesting all the others.  But let’s face it, we want what we want when we want it and exactly how we want it. That is the mindset of our society.  In stark contrast is the definition of self-control: the ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotions and desires or the expression of them in one’s behavior, especially in difficult circumstances.

I think the greatest example of self-control by far was Jesus’ commitment to die on the cross.  He had the ability to make His pain stop, to make those who persecuted and tortured Him cease, to call ten thousand angels to His rescue. He didn’t do any of those things though because He knew that the pay off of His restraint was well worth it. There was a plan and a goal to be achieved, the reconciliation of mankind into relationship with God, and there was no other way to bring it to pass.

And so should it be with us, we should dig deep to find the fortitude to remain committed to growing in Christ, to become conformed to His likeness. It is not always going to be pretty or easy. We will certainly face challenges in cultivating the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Trust that He has a plan and purpose and that the practice of godly restraint in our lives will develop character in our lives. We must choose to look beyond our immediate circumstances and endure whatever God allows us to go through. It is our choice to make but God himself empowers us to do so.

Challenge/Action Step- 

Name one area of your life that self-discipline comes easy and one area of your life that self-control is a struggle. What are the differences between the two?  What is one thing you can do today to have greater discipline in your life?

Prayer for today-

Lord, thank you that you see us, and our struggles to be self-controlled and disciplined.  Thank you for your forgiveness as we lay our failures at Your feet in repentance and begin again.  I pray that you would help us to drawn near to you so that we can truly live a Spirit led life.  ~ AMEN

Thanks for joining me today as we continue this 

journey to understand and further develop the

fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  Please take a minute to leave a 

comment here or join Cherry Fargo of Being ReMade on Facebook

for further discussion on Living The Fruitful Life.

Day Eight: FAITHFULNESS

Day Eight ~ FAITHFULNESS

Key Bible Verse- 

Lamentations 3:22-23

The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.

Thoughts to ponder- 

God demonstrates His faithfulness to us in the fact that He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is unchanging which means He can be counted on at ALL times. In our human nature, we do not always measure up to this standard. We do change and we do fail. That is why I am so thankful for today's scripture verse that lets us know that every day we have a new opportunity to live a Spirit led life and develop faithfulness.  

It is not easy by any means other than the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and can only be measured in the light of God's example, not man's standards.  It is of utmost importance that we strive to be faithful to God for His purposes and not our own.  Trying to prove to others that we are faithful does not result in good fruit because our focus is in the wrong place.

God has given each one of us gifts and talents and created us each for specific purposes.  Our energy should be directed at being faithful to what God has for us to do. We can only discern what that is by being consistent in prayer and pursuing our relationship with Christ. And then we must be obedient in what He reveals to us. If we do not use the skills and resources He has given us in service to His purposes, we lose them.  Our goal should be to live a life of faithfulness that honors God so that at the end of it all, we will hear Him say "Well done good and faithful servant" Matthew 25:21a.

Challenge/Action Step- 

Think about people you would consider to be faithful. What has the impact of their faithfulness to God been on those around them?  What do you think the impact could be on those around you if you were to be more persistent in cultivating faithfulness in your own life?

Prayer for today-

Lord God, you are faithful all the time! Thank you for your mercy and grace when we miss the mark and new opportunities to begin again.  I pray that you would give each of us a clear picture of what it means to be faithful to you and your purposes in our lives.  Reveal to us the next step for developing this character in our lives today.

Thanks for joining me today as we continue this 

journey to understand and further develop the

fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  Please take a minute to leave a 

comment here or join Cherry Fargo of Being ReMade on Facebook

for further discussion on Living The Fruitful Life.

Weekly Recap

Thank you so much to everyone who has joined me on this journey! I hope you have been enjoying this week's posts.  So far our devotionals for Living The Fruitful Life have included:

Day One: Introduction

Day Two: Love

Day Three: Joy

Day Four: Peace

Day Five: Patience

If you are able to this weekend, take some time to review this week's lessons.  Was there one that stood out to you more than the others? I would love to hear your feedback or answer any questions you might have.  Please use the comment feature below to communicate them with me!

Please feel free to share any of the blogs links with anyone you think would benefit from this study.  It is my prayer that you will have a deeper understanding of the fruit of the Spirit, a closer walk with God, and a more developed quiet time habit formed by the end of our 10 study challenge.  It is my honor and privilege to serve you and pray for you.

Many Blessings,

Cherry

Living The Fruitful Life

Hello! I am so excited about this ten day journey to a closer walk with God! Romans 8:14 states "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." I don't know about you, but sometimes I need to be a little more focused to grow in my relationship with God and allow myself to be led by the Spirit. Life gets busy and in the way so often, but I decided that I would do a challenge for myself. Then I thought I might really get more from it if I shared it with others. So I hope you will join me on this journey! As Christians it should be our earnest desire to be led by the Spirit. God's word tells us that the act of living a spirit led life is living a fruitful life. There will be virtues developed in the process and it is our job to cultivate those fruits. Beginning on Monday June 30th, I will share a brief daily devotional covering The Fruits of The Spirit as well as a "challenge" for cultivating that virtue in your daily life. I will do this here on my blog. Each day I will also post the link to the devotional and challenge here to my Facebook page, as well as inspirational quotes, Bible verses and thoughts about the daily topic. It is my hope and prayer that you will join in the discussions about Living The Fruitful Life on my Facebook page or in the comments below. Your insights might just be exactly what someone else participating in this challenge needs to hear. Answers to questions you may have: Do I need anything to participate? A: You may want to grab a notebook to record what God is revealing to you throughout the challenge. What is the time frame for the challenge? A: It begins June 30, 2014 and ends July 11, 2014. There will be no devotionals over the weekend of July 5 & 6. Can I share the challenge with others? A: Absolutely!! Please share the links to the blog and Facebook page with anyone you think could benefit from this challenge.  If you quote or repost any of it, please be sure to mention me as the source. Is there a fee to participate? A: Nope, it's free. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions you might have. It is my desire that you would be uplifted and encouraged by this experience. You can also sign up to have the daily devotionals delivered straight to your inbox by clicking here. Be sure to click the box labeled challenge.  If would like news on upcoming products and services, you may also click the box labeled updates. Many Blessings, Cherry Fargo Being ReMade