Posted on in Personal Reflection

Fruit of the Spirit

Let’s start the New Year with a prayer.

O Lord, Savior of my soul, Provider of all wisdom, let my gratitude for what you’ve taught me so far not go to waste. Great Rabbi, in Your steadfast Love, guide my mind and heart to be set on things that are heavenly and not on things that are on the earth. (Colossians 3:1-4).

O Lord, admonish all sinful habits I’ve cultivated either by disobedience or unconsciously. Forgive Your servant if I’ve erred unfaithfully with idolatrous thoughts or acted in a way that wasn’t humble and good. Restrain my flesh, mind, and pride in life from desires not beneficial to my spiritual growth. O Jesus, you’ve set me free. Help me believe this truth without doubts (Col. 3:5-11).

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

Seek Him

What steps are you taking in 2024 to dig deeper into studying God’s word? Will you learn with a group, online, or follow an author’s guidebook? What will you be using to get there: Bible, commentary, sermons, works of literature, and media resources? How do you plan to increase your prayer time with God? And what about journaling? Is it something you’re considering at all? Where do you see yourself next year or in five or ten? Your motivation or goals should align with God’s will and truth. It’s ALL about Him and our relationship with Him.

"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thrist for you as in a dry and weary land where ther eis not water. So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary (Word) beholding Your power and glory. Because Your steadfast love is betten than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless you as long as I live; in Your name I will lift up my hands"~ Psalm 63:1-4

Read, Reflect, Respond

Pondering what I learned in 2023 from God’s word through inductive study, praying, and journalling left me thirsty for more. As it said in Psalm 63, “My soul thirst for You.” It’s no longer enough to read the Bible in one year; I want to deeply understand His truth, promises, attributes, wisdom, knowledge, and historical background that will make all sense.

If I stand for the truth by faith, I must anchor myself in God’s word. We believers should study His word to understand its context, background, and doctrine. In doing so, we will not be deceived by false teachings and cultural indoctrination rampant in many churches. North America has embraced paganism( Col.2:4,8), satanism( Col. 2:18b), asceticism (col. 2:20-22), and self-religion (it is all about my feelings and emotions, not His will). Believers ought to pray, pray, and pray without ceasing. We are in a battle, people! Spiritual sleepiness is a dangerous place to be.

Word or Verses?

In the past, I wrote on a piece of paper Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” I posted one on my fridge upstairs and one downstairs on my fridge, highlighting the verse in my Bible, and Bible posted a few more places around the house. Every time I would emotionally -feel- anxious, I would recite it aloud without doubting. That was hard to put into practice, but in the end, it was worth it. Anxiety doesn’t hold into me as it did before. Praise the Lord.

Life will throw at you trials and situations you CANNOT control. How we respond will reflect the likeness of our Savior, and those godly changes will benefit us and others. Holding firm to that verse helped me ‘put off’ the old self and ‘put on’ the new self. Only through the power of prayer and willingness to change was it achievable. It was such a victorious moment in my life. In previous situations that stressed me beyond belief, it suddenly became manageable and clearer that trusting in God was more important than trying to fix or control a cause I had no control over. Did I get anxious again? Of course, it can if I let my ’emotion-feelings’ get the upper hand and let them fester by not trusting God.

Since then, I’ve chosen a verse or word that will significantly change my life. Fighting our inner weaknesses with the Word of God is satisfying and gratifying. In my humble victory, I always praised Him. Another thing I started recently is a Bible Prayer; using an older bible, I highlighted many verses regarding God’s attributes.

Embracing a word or a verse from God’s word is admitting to yourself and others your vulnerability and weaknesses that need to be changed. In 2019, I needed strength and courage to face uncertainty that year because I was mentally and spiritually exhausted by lies. I prayed and remembered what God said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”( Joshua 1:6). Those words of encouragement and hope set my mind free and peace settled over my entire body, mind, and Spirit. “O God, thank you for renewing my mind and remembering to trust in You.”

Last year, upon hearing a sermon on John 15, I was convicted to Abide in Him and a thirst for a deeper understanding of His word. “Abide in me, and I in You.” Like one of my favourite songs, I repeated that little phrase repeatedly and then backed myself, “How am I to abide in God? Am I not doing that already?”

After watching by coincidence on YouTube: How to Faith Life, Sisterita, and Crazy Simple Truth Ministry, within a few weeks, I started inductive study for the first time, praying over His attributes and memorizing one verse about “I am not of this world.” To make this official and productive, I set up an Ikea table (or a folded table) where I could leave all my supplies and commentaries nearby.

Now that I’ve shared this, you may ask, “What is your verse or word for this year?” Through prayer, reading the Bible, and Bible reading the book of Colossians, my heart was convinced I needed to bear the fruit of the Spirit.

 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

My heart stalled and sank at the word Faithful. How can I seek and set my mind on the things above? How can I have a life hidden with Christ? How can I be more Faithful to Him? This will be my walk with Him this coming year, besides continuing to Abide in Him.

Confession

O God, Creator of all things above and on earth, let your kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and patience teach me to be more faithful to You. Let all idolatrous thoughts, fleshly desires, and impurity be put off and nailed to the cross. O Jesus, let your steadfast love rule over my heart. Teach and admonish sinful habits and renew a desire to pray and read Your Word even more.

What are your words or verses that will lead you to Him?

These are two great books we are ready in the morning as devotionals. Both books were given as a birthday gift to my husband in 1997, a year after he was saved by God’s grace in 1996, and I was saved in 1995. We have three wonderful young adult children who constantly need our prayers.

May this year bring you blessings as you draw nearer to God in Prayer and the truth of His word.

Let’s Go Pray!

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