In Joshua 24, the people of Israel had conquered the Promised
Land and divided it up among the tribes.
Joshua challenged them to “choose you this day whom ye
will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh.
24:15, KJV) The people chose to serve
God, so Joshua directed them to get rid of their foreign gods and to yield to
the Lord God. Sadly, they did not keep
their promise very long. After Joshua died, we
find that the Israelites repeatedly turn back to their idols, then God would
send judgment, and then they would turn back to God. How often do we fall into a similar
cycle? We may be doing well, serving and
seeking God for a while, but then, temptation hits. Do we yield to the temptation or continue on
the straight path of serving God? Unfortunately,
we often give in to the sin. God sends
retribution for our sins, it may be immediate or it may come over time; and
like the Israelites, we turn back to God after a time of rebellion, begging for
His forgiveness and mercy. Thankfully,
we have Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to cleanse us of our
unrighteousness. But, as it says in
Romans 6, we should not use God’s grace as an excuse to go on sinning. If we choose to yield to God and plant
ourselves firmly in Him, then we can yield good fruit. “For he shall be
as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8 (KJV)
Showing posts with label Fruit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fruit. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Yield
“Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God.” Romans 6:13 (KJV)
In Joshua 24, the people of Israel had conquered the Promised
Land and divided it up among the tribes.
Joshua challenged them to “choose you this day whom ye
will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh.
24:15, KJV) The people chose to serve
God, so Joshua directed them to get rid of their foreign gods and to yield to
the Lord God. Sadly, they did not keep
their promise very long. After Joshua died, we
find that the Israelites repeatedly turn back to their idols, then God would
send judgment, and then they would turn back to God. How often do we fall into a similar
cycle? We may be doing well, serving and
seeking God for a while, but then, temptation hits. Do we yield to the temptation or continue on
the straight path of serving God? Unfortunately,
we often give in to the sin. God sends
retribution for our sins, it may be immediate or it may come over time; and
like the Israelites, we turn back to God after a time of rebellion, begging for
His forgiveness and mercy. Thankfully,
we have Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to cleanse us of our
unrighteousness. But, as it says in
Romans 6, we should not use God’s grace as an excuse to go on sinning. If we choose to yield to God and plant
ourselves firmly in Him, then we can yield good fruit. “For he shall be
as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8 (KJV)
I am currently participating in the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 Challenge. My theme is life lessons from the Bible. You can find more information about the challenge by clicking on the badge to the right or click here for a list of participants. It has been an interesting experience so far and I have enjoyed finding and visiting other blogs. If you are a fellow participant, thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment!
In Joshua 24, the people of Israel had conquered the Promised
Land and divided it up among the tribes.
Joshua challenged them to “choose you this day whom ye
will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh.
24:15, KJV) The people chose to serve
God, so Joshua directed them to get rid of their foreign gods and to yield to
the Lord God. Sadly, they did not keep
their promise very long. After Joshua died, we
find that the Israelites repeatedly turn back to their idols, then God would
send judgment, and then they would turn back to God. How often do we fall into a similar
cycle? We may be doing well, serving and
seeking God for a while, but then, temptation hits. Do we yield to the temptation or continue on
the straight path of serving God? Unfortunately,
we often give in to the sin. God sends
retribution for our sins, it may be immediate or it may come over time; and
like the Israelites, we turn back to God after a time of rebellion, begging for
His forgiveness and mercy. Thankfully,
we have Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to cleanse us of our
unrighteousness. But, as it says in
Romans 6, we should not use God’s grace as an excuse to go on sinning. If we choose to yield to God and plant
ourselves firmly in Him, then we can yield good fruit. “For he shall be
as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river,
and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8 (KJV)
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Fruit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such
there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
Galatians 5:16-26 and Matthew 7:15-23 both talk about fruit.
Just as an apple tree should not bear oranges, Christians should not bear bad
fruit. We can’t live perfectly, but our lives should ultimately reflect what we
are. “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:20, KJV) If
others look at your life, do your actions and attitude show the fruit of the
Spirit? As it says in Galatians, we should walk in the Spirit because He can
keep us away from the temptations of the flesh so that we can bear good fruit.
This short and sweet post is not my first time to tackle this letter, in fact,
one of my favorite posts was titled Brought to you by the Letter F.
Galatians 5:16-26 and Matthew 7:15-23 both talk about fruit.
Just as an apple tree should not bear oranges, Christians should not bear bad
fruit. We can’t live perfectly, but our lives should ultimately reflect what we
are. “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:20, KJV) If
others look at your life, do your actions and attitude show the fruit of the
Spirit? As it says in Galatians, we should walk in the Spirit because He can
keep us away from the temptations of the flesh so that we can bear good fruit.
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