shadow

fruit

Connected Branch

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“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5, NLT

Luke, chapter eight, gives the account of a woman who’d been afflicted for twelve years with non-stop bleeding. In that day, she was considered “unclean”—someone nobody wanted to come in contact with. As such, she was likely an outcast, not connected in her community, and unable to find a cure for her bleeding. One day, while Jesus was passing through a town, she made her way through the crowd of people in an effort to get close enough to touch Him. She reached His clothing and touched the edge of His robe. Right then, she stopped bleeding. Jesus wanted to know who touched Him. Everyone around Him said they didn’t do it. The apostle Peter told Jesus the entire crowd was pressing on Him because so many people were there.

“But Jesus said, ‘Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.’ When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. ‘Daughter,’ he said to her, ‘your faith has made you well. Go in peace’”  (Luke 8: 46-48, NLT).

This woman had been outwardly disconnected from healing for years. By touching Jesus she demonstrated her faith that He was the true source of the healing power that she needed. Jesus said He felt healing power go out from Him when she touched His robe. She was connected to him in her heart! Read today’s Dose verse.

God wants our lives to be like fruit-producing branches of a grapevine. This happens when we stay connected to Jesus (our vine), and let God (our gardener), prune our lives. It prompts growth and fruitfulness. God’s cultivating, weeding, and pruning within us results in godly character development, progress in our walk with Jesus, and an abundance of spiritual fruit. Remaining in Jesus means to stay connected to him (in all situations) in our hearts, through faith, just like the woman did. We must persist in keeping connected to Jesus, our power source for living godly, fruitful, and productive lives. Without Him, we become disconnected, and therefore, can’t do what He requires of us.

Are you a fruitful branch connected to the Vine today?

By grace through faith,

Rita

The Holy Spirit

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“At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.”
Luke 10:21, NLT

holy-spirit-1315165-640x960In this verse we see the Holy Spirit is the one who filled Jesus with joy. As Christians, this same Spirit lives within us. He moved in the day we received Christ as our Savior and began harvesting His fruit in our lives – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It should bring us great peace to know He will never leave or forsake us, and He will continue to walk along-side us every day of our lives. The Holy Spirit also intercedes on our behalf, bringing our request straight to the throne room of God. What an incredibly powerful ally to have in life!

Today, praise God for the gift of His Holy Spirit living within us, and pray that He will fill us with the fruits of His Spirit so that we can reap a great harvest.

Prayerfully,

Madison

 

 

 

photo credit: http://www.freeimages.com/photographer/mazupan-39719

WHAT DO DIETS & ELEPHANTS HAVE IN COMMON? PART 1

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Why is it that when we’re on a diet, high calorie foods we didn’t eat even before the diet, suddenly starts calling our name? And don’t go to a circus! The smell of funnel cake, popcorn, and hot dogs will seriously drive you crazy!  Can I get an amen?

BANANA SPLITAnd what is it about a banana split – which I’ve never even liked – that becomes a powerful craving the day I commit to losing a few pounds? Ah-ha! Paul warned us about that too. He understood when he said, 
“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” Romans 7:15 NLT

We were ALL born with a nature to do wrong…with a propensity to sin.  We can’t help it. It’s in our DNA. Just like my brown eyes came from my mama’s side of the family, and my short stubby finger came from my dad’s side, my sin nature came to me the same way – handed down through the ages all the way back to the first humans on earth. I don’t like it. I tried to pretend that sin nature wasn’t there. We all do, at least at first. Even worse, we try to justify it. It’s ok to do whatever we have a hankering for because we were born that way. Like being addicted to sugar, and eating a banana split anyway after I promised not to. You’ll notice the more we think about that wrong thing we want to do, the more likely we are to do it…again!

Or worse still, we still try to justify it. “Banana is a fruit. Nothing wrong with fruit. God specifically said for us to eat it”, I reason! It’s the other ingredients in a banana split, which gets me in trouble. Doing whatever we crave, just because we were born with that propensity, is not ok. So, how do we overcome those specific propensities that tempt us?

We remember. Like Dufus, a circus elephant I’ll tell you about tomorrow, we have to learn to live in the freedom that Christ has already given us.

A freedom from sin…not a freedom to sin. A freedom to do what is right because we have the power to overcome it. Like right now, I’m free from drooling over that bowl full of ice cream, chocolate fudge syrup, cherries, nuts, whipped cream, and even a banana thrown in the somewhere.

Until tomorrow,

Your Traveling Partner,

Brenda