Outposts

Poem of The Evening

The summer evening seems like a conclusion to something somehow…the air is thick over the pavement and steadily cooling under the trees…there are car washers, hedge trimmers, lawn mowers, plan makers, and lawn rakers, twittering birds in trees settling in for the coming night… occasionally there are echoes of laughing children as moms urge them toward their evening chores.  The day is done and evening has come … it’s time to rest and rethink tomorrow.  We all started the day with mercies new, living and breathing a new beginning,  but evening, ahhh…evening … it poses refreshing and return, coming home again to find consolation in the sanctuary.

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Fruit of the Spirit - Love

…is it really a secondhand emotion, and more importantly… is it just an emotion?  How can something which is sometimes considered “second hand” according to worldly standards, be a top priority with God and necessary for the repair of the universe?

The three fountains of God’s heart are love, joy, and peace… He oozes all three at a steady rate throughout the universe; consistent and repeatable.

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https://livinginhisname.org/fots-both-noun-and-verb-altogether/

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Fruit of the Spirit - Joy

Joy is associated with gladness, which can be a wonderful habit-forming inclination of the heart…it’s just downright contagious. How many of us see the Lord as a grouchy, unspoken, judgmental, person who seems to thrill at taunting us with silence and faintness? C’mon, be honest, you know who you are that thinks that stuff, i know i sure have. i think it’s a great question. How many of us see Him as a demanding taskmaster rather than a jubilant master whose joy we can step into? The service He requires of us even now is to be accomplished joyfully rather than sullenly. i mean, we know the Lord is always going to square things up, so what’s the point in being all foot-dragging and begrudging, walking around long-faced, and bitter acting? If you don’t have to, well…then don’t?

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Related:

https://livinginhisname.org/fots-melody-of-an-illuminated-heart/

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Fruit of the Spirit - Longsuffering

Longsuffering – patiently enduring while diligently clinging to the promise that God will do what He said He would do, and when He does, it will be a testimony to all who see. In the meantime, we develop an understanding of the Lord, coming to a better perception of what is in our hearts along with knowing God’s details.

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Related:

https://livinginhisname.org/fots-fierce-determination-to-not-be-moved/

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Fruit of the Spirit - Kindness

It is a kindness to keep our word…not keeping our word is a subtle betrayal, which isn’t something only common to enemies….it happens with the greatest frequency and impact with those closest to us.  It is kind to be loyal, and kind to be honest, yet still practicing kindness in our being honest.

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Related:

https://livinginhisname.org/fots-extended-hands-of-grace/

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Fruit of the Spirit - Goodness

Goodness is intrinsic and essential to good works. From God’s perspective, doing good things is not His definition of “good works”.  In order to have “good works”, the foundational element of our character must be “goodness”… ”good” being born of God, because the Lord our God is the sole possessor of “good” in the universe… He is the standard of goodness.  From God’s perspective, without His goodness in us, our “good works” are considered “dead works.”

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https://livinginhisname.org/fots-the-axle/

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Fruit of the Spirit - Faithfulness

Faithfulness is the concept of unfailingly remaining loyal to someone or something and putting that loyalty into consistent practice, regardless of extenuating circumstances.  If we’ve promised someone to be somewhere at a certain time, regardless of if something better comes along, we do what we’ve said.  If we’ve given our word to our kids to do something and the boss calls, we keep our commitment to the kids… being consistent and repeatable, thereby teaching them by example to be the same. Ultimately, faithfulness applies to God himself with regard to his perpetual love towards his children that is not dependent on their worthiness.

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Related:

https://livinginhisname.org/fots-loyal-dependable-consistent-and-repeatable/

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Fruit of the Spirit - Gentleness

Gentleness and humility … humility being the driving motivation behind gentleness…. they are two important words representing character attributes, typically, only obtained thru the school of affliction. i believe, one of the outcomes of affliction…IS humility. None of us, wholeheartedly, go there, but, you know, there are some things which are only gotten by going through difficult trials, not that we would ever wish trials on anyone, BUT….more often than not, it is the only way to get God’s character worked in us. Those who go with God and endure the “educational institution of unhappy situations” have their sharp edges rounded off by circumstances, with the character of Jesus slowly being revealed in them like gold sticking out of the ground. Gentleness is a grace all believers possess, or at least, it is the Lord’s intention that the fruit of the Spirit is evident in us.  If Jesus has it, we can have it also.  Gentleness is…mildness of disposition, a natural inclination to kindness above violence; it doesn’t spring out of, nor rest upon a sense of worthlessness.  Ever.  A gentle heart is not a victim’s heart.

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Related:

https://livinginhisname.org/fots-the-way-of-a-lamb/

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Fruit of the Spirit - Self-Control

Proverbs 1:1-3, “These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair.”

The word “discipline” there is the English transliteration of the Hebrew idea of “self-control”.  The O.T. uses that Hebrew word 50 times, and the English translators called it reproof, chastisement, or instruction. But in the sense of self-control, it is seen as discipline, correction, or personal restraint. In the New Testament, the word often used is “sober”, “moderate”, “temperance”, and even “discreet”, meaning to be of sound mind, self-controlled and sane…Ahhhh… there it is, sane, or “thinking on level ground” Or… “self-control”.  The picture is one of fenced-in passions and purposeful restraint.

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Related:

https://livinginhisname.org/fots-a-level-path/

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Ultimate Words

“Always“, and “Never” are, what i call, ultimate words.

There are very few things in this life we live which are “always“, and “never“, but yet in the Bible there are ultimate words used, and i believe the Lord wants us to be involved with His ultimate intent and purpose, thus He uses ultimate words for us to ultimately trust Him and ultimately believe Him. Ultimate – to the utter most.

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Related:

https://livinginhisname.org/ultimate-words/

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