God's Kaleidoscope

Early on in our study on the Fruit of the Spirit, I believe it was about week 3, I began asking the question “if (insert the name of the Fruit, such as Joy) were a color, what color would it be?” It was great fun to see the colors each of you chose and the reasons why. Some of you were very descriptive in your choices such as ‘Heavenly Blue”, or “Fuzzy Georgia Peach”, Rainbow Orange and Powder Puff Pink; just to name a few. I am fairly certain that many of you wondered “what on earth does picking a color have to do with the Fruit of the Spirit”. Your patience is being rewarded, and here is the why to the color question.

When doing research for our study on the Fruit of the Spirit, I always saw fruit such as bananas, apples, oranges, etc., usually in a bowl, basket or some other container being the visual representation for the Fruit of the Spirit; hence the original name for our study “God’s Basket of Fruit”. But, once I clearly grasped that it is one Fruit, not many, I was no longer comfortable with the Basket. The Fruit of the Spirit is one Fruit with many components… how do you put that into a visual? Then one day as I was praying the Holy Spirit gave me a great visual; a Kaleidoscope.

A Kaleidoscope is a single object with many dimensions, or colors; depending on which way the Kaleidoscope is adjusted, determines the pattern of those colors. In order to see the colors reflected and the beautiful patterns, you must have the Kaleidoscope pointed towards the light. No light….. No reflection… No reflection…. No colors.

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit is very much like that Kaleidoscope. As we abide in the True Vine (Jesus), as we surrender our will to the Holy Spirit, Fruit matures. Unlike the Fruit in a Basket which can be separated from the others, Holy Spirit Fruit is intertwined and each component, of the One Fruit, relies on the others. Our Fruit will be reflected in different ways at different times in our lives. As we look through the Kaleidoscope of our lives, yellow representing “Joy” may be bursting forth, and then a twist of the Kaleidoscope and blue representing “Peace” is being reflected in quiet splendor. The twist of the Kaleidoscope happens as we live out our day-to-day lives. As the events of life happen - the good things such as giving birth, marriage, answers to prayer, salvation of a loved one; and the not so good… divorces, death, illness, broken relationships, and various hurts along the way - our Fruit is revealed. Like the Kaleidoscope which possesses all the colors, so our lives possess all the components of Holy Spirit Fruit.

Our job, my job, is to allow the Holy Spirit to fill my Kaleidoscope (my life) with His Fruit; to keep the Kaleidoscope pointed to the light, Jesus; and to let the Father, God, turn the dial allowing the colors (the Fruit of my life) to be reflected that others might be drawn to the very heart of Jesus.

Many of you have encouraged me to publish this study on the Fruit of the Spirit. I’m not sure that will ever happen, but as a result of your encouragement I am looking into the possibilities. I have no idea where to begin; if you would join me in praying for God’s wisdom I would be greatly blessed.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share with you through this study. We have been on an amazing journey together. I hope you have enjoyed our time together, as much as I have!

This blog site will remain for a couple of more weeks to allow you to post any last comments to the group or to me. You may also send them to me via email.

Be Encouraged!
Sandra

Self-control- Keeping one’s self in-check !

In the “Lord of the Rings” by Tolkien there is a magical ring. If you were to touch this ring you would become consumed with the desire to own it. But the truth of the matter is you would not own it…. It would own you! You would become a slave to it. Frodo gets the ring and is unable to give it up. No matter how hard he tries…. Frodo cannot give up the ring; the ring has a firm hold on Frodo. His friend Gandalf tried to warn Frodo, but like many of us in the grips of addiction, or out of control desires, Frodo does not hear his friend Gandalf. “If you had warned me,” said Frodo, “or even sent me a message, I would have done away with it.” “Would you? ... Try now!” Frodo drew the Ring out of his pocket, again, and looked at it…He had intended to fling it from him into the very hottest part of the fire. But he found now that he could not do so, without great struggle. He weighs the Ring in his hand, hesitating, and forcing himself to remember all that Gandalf had told him; and then with an effort of will Frodo made a movement, as if to cast it away …but then found that he had put it back in his pocket. Gandalf laughed grimly. “You see? Already you cannot easily let it go, nor will to damage it. And I could not ‘make’ you – except by force.

Ever feel like Frodo? I know I have… almost daily. Frodo with an effort of his will makes a movement to toss the ring away, but finds it back in his pocket. He went through the motions with all his might, with all his strength and will, and yet somehow the ring is mysteriously back in his pocket. Not so mysterious… To understand the mystery we must go back to the beginning. Back to when Frodo first finds the ring; when Frodo is first attracted to the ring. Frodo had been told that the ring would not bring him any good. Frodo knew, way down deep that he should not pick up the ring, but, “he just couldn’t help himself”. Sound familiar? We often come across things in our life that we know are not good for us. Things we know are in direct conflict with God’s Word, and that to which He has called us. Yet, something draws us; something convinces us that "just this once" will be okay. We are not going to be taken in. We hush the voice coming from inside that says “no”, and "just this once" we step into the darkness. For the most part "just this once"--- could be just this once--- if only, we would stop there. But we survived the “just this once”. So, we find ourselves, once again, back at the precipice. No harm came to us last time… so just once more... "it will be okay" and we hush the voice one more time. The cycle continues until the voice inside us is no longer heard! Like Frodo we are caught, wondering how we got there, and feeling as if there is, now, no way out.

How we get there is not a mystery. We get there through our natural human bent--our sin nature. Whether we like it or not we are often attracted to that which we should not be attracted. The Devil surely helps us along by appealing to our senses and making it all seem so harmless, so beautiful, so attractive. The Devil knows if he can get us to do it once, odds are he can get us to do it again, and then again, until we are hooked. God, the one who knows us best, knew we would be tempted. He gave us His Word so that we might recognize the rings (the temptations) in our lives. He gave us the gift of Prayer that we might be able to go to Him and ask for help, for strength to resist picking up the ring (the temptation). He knows the wiles of the Devil and He gave us the most powerful weapon of all, The Holy Spirit.

Did you catch the phrase in our story of Frodo “with an effort of his will”? We don’t need to fight the battle alone… if we are willing to surrender our control to the Holy Spirit, He will fight the battle for us. He will give us the strength to resist, so that we need never succumb. If we surrender and listen to the voice from inside of us, we will be able to leave the “ring” right where we came across it. The secret to the mystery of Self-control is listening to the inside voice (the voice of the Holy Spirit) at the first sign of temptation. You surrender your will to that of the Holy’s Sprit, not after you have picked up the ring, but as soon as you see the ring. Once you have picked up the ring, and slipped it into your pocket, it is too late for Self-control!

Self-control is keeping one’s self in check. Self-control is saying no at the very first sign of danger. Self-control is achieved as we abide in the Vine and allow the Holy Spirit to develop the Fruit component of Self-control in our lives. Self-control is not about the power of control, it is about the power of surrender.

Tying it together with Self-control

Egkrateia (eng-krat’-i-ah) is the Greek word translated “self-control” and means continence, temperance, self control. Self-control is the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites. It defines a person who has strength from within.

Self control is having our passions and appetites reigned in. It is passing up temptations of over indulgence. Self control is calmness under pressure and strength under temptation. It is not eating that 2nd piece of fudge when everything in you cries out for more, more, more. It is counting to 28 or 208 when you children have annoyed and frustrated you for the umpteenth time; it is remembering why you love your spouse and what he means to you in those difficult times, and not allowing temptation to carry you into the arms of another.

Self control is choosing to think good thoughts over bad; it is choosing to give understanding and grace instead of condemnation and retaliation. It is choosing to turn off the T.V. and spend time with your children, your spouse or both. It is choosing to spend time with God through Bible reading, devotions and prayer. Self control is meeting commitments. It is being there when you say you will be there, it is being on time and not late. Self control is giving 8 hours work for 8 hours pay.

Self control is intertwined with love, joy, peace, patience and the others. Picture a box made of love, with all the components making up the wrapping and then tied together with the ribbon of self control. Self-control keeps it all together. It is difficult to love another with out self control. I can have the desire to love, but it is Self-control that helps me see it through, to hang in there when people aren't always so loveable; It is difficult to possess joy and peace when we are bouncing all over the place due to lack of time spent with Jesus and poor planning to the point our lives are out of control, filled to the brim with busyness. It is difficult to offer patience and kindness to another, if we are out of control in our anger and so filled with self that we don’t care!It is virtually impossible to have hang-in-there faith, and just take it gentleness with out a strong measure of self control. Self control like all the other components is matured as we stay connected too, and abide in the True Vine, Jesus; as we surrender completely to the will of the Holy Spirit.

Self Control is an interesting component as you can experience self control in one area and lack it completely in another. Such as, we may be disciplined in our work or our jobs, yet at home everything is in total disarray. We may be disciplined, have self-control in our eating, yet our spending is out of control. Our temper with others may never flare, but with our children and family we rage. We may be disciplined in our daily Bible reading, and yet our prayer life is hit-and-miss or non existent. When the component of Self Control is being matured by the Holy Spirit, not just one or two areas will be in control, eventually we will have self control in all areas. Eventually we will be able to say I am a disciplined person, the Holy Spirit has matured this area of my life. How I pray for that day!

Gentle Jesus... lean not on your own understanding

“When John, in the book of Revelation, looks for the conquering Lion who can open the scroll and its seven seas, he sees instead a Lamb. The Lion is the Lamb, and the way of the Lamb is the way of the cross. Yet such surprises are not limited to the closing chapters of the Christian story. When we look for a king born or royalty, we find instead a baby wrapped in strips of cloth lying in a manger, born to a peasant girl of no account. When Jesus’ time has come to begin his ministry and we look for him to put John the Baptizer in his place, we find instead Jesus who humbly approaches John in order to be baptized by him. When we look for Jesus to take the world by storm, to win over those who have power, influence and prestige in order to advance his kingdom more efficiently, we find instead an itinerant preacher and healer who spends much of his time with the weak an outcast of society; children, lepers, prostitutes and tax-collectors. When we see Jesus rejected by the Samaritans, we look for him to do what his disciples wanted done – to rain down fire upon them – but instead he rebukes us. When we look for the conquering hero to make his move, to enter into the royal city on his white charger to signal to the people that the time has come to establish his kingdom, we find instead a Jesus who enters into Jerusalem astride a humble donkey. When we gather with him for the last time in that upper room, expecting to get our marching orders and to honor him by pledging our allegiance to him, we find instead that he honors us by washing our feet and by calling us his friends. When Jesus is arrested and taken before the authorities, we look for him to set those authorities straight, to proclaim proudly and defiantly that he is God’s anointed one; instead we find him strangely silent, showing no need to justify himself. When we look for a deliverer who will crush the opposition by superior force, we find instead a servant-messiah who allows himself to be crushed and bruised for us. What kind of God is this?”

A Gentle One!

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29


Footnote: Our summary this week comes from “Life On The Vine”, by Philip D. Kenneson….