Sept 21

Galatians 5:16-23

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Here's a quick little test for you. See if you can match up the trees in the first list with the fruit those trees bear in the second list: apple tree oak tree banana tree pear tree peach tree hickory tree walnut tree cherry tree pecans pears hickory nuts acorns cherries apples walnuts peaches bananas Pretty dumb test, huh? Everybody knows that apples come from apple trees and walnuts come from walnut trees. No matter how hard it tries, a cherry tree could never produce apples; a pecan tree couldn't squeeze out a single banana. Why not? Because neither tree has what it takes to produce that kind of fruit. Making right choices works the same way. None of us can make right choices all the time. Some days it seems as if we can't make right choices at all! Because we're sinners we don't have what it takes to produce that kind of fruit-not by ourselves, at least. We might as well try to squeeze pears out of our ears! So, does that mean we should just give up? No, but it does mean that the only way we can consistently make right choices is through the Spirit of Christ living in us. His Spirit lives in everyone who has trusted Christ for salvation. It's only by relying on him every day-through prayer and Bible reading-that we can consistently make right choices. In fact, you might say that making right choices is the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives when we trust God day by day.

REFLECT: What kind of choices have you been making recently? Have they been sort of prickly, like a pineapple? nutty, like an acorn? sweet, like a cherry? sour, like a crabapple? something else? What kind of choices do you want to make from now on?

ACT: Try making a simple song or poem out of Galatians 5:22 and 23.

PRAY: Here is an example of a prayer you may want to say the first thing every morning: "God, I praise you for this day that you have made. I give your Holy Spirit complete control of everything I do today. Help me to make right choices all day long. In Jesus' name. Amen."

ugh sorry i tried doing this one but i cant concentrate. i will post this one tomorrow with a clearer mind. i have waaayy too much homework...

Hi!

22 "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,"
23 "gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"

Lol I remember Michelle teaching me the dance for this song really really long time ago
So I think all the "fruits" that are listed are all the things God wants us to be. It is really hard to be ALL those things at the same time, but if you think of it, if you are showing one of those traits, you are also showing another. For example, in order to love, you need to be kind, joyful, and have a good heart. It is exactly like how if you are committing one sin, you are also committing another.
Good night!

For those who didn't post.
I really HOPE that you guys do it sometime soon.

It is really hard for me to explain what I think in my mind and type them into words.....so I really hope this makes sense to all of you.
So i thought while I was reading today's thinking of how a piece of us is controlled by temptation. Ever since the begining of the time when Adam and eve ate the fruit from that forbidden tree. It's almost imposssible to fully avoid that side of your heart but when followig god, we start to become cleansed. It's impossible to live a sinnless life I you are not willing to listen to god. It's like that devo we did yesterday I think, we could be that person who knows the consequences but still does it anyways or the the person who understands and avoids trouble.

At my school, today's quote of the day was:
"it easier to do the right thing than to explain why you didn't in the first place"
good night!

Simply put
PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT.
Good fruit comes from the choices we make, the actions we do.
SO many choices to say Yes or NO to sin. I end up saying YES to sin QUITE often.
But this passage actually really inspired me to say no
I guess cause of guilt?? It probably shouldn't be about guilt, more because of our Love for God to no longer betray him.
A little something something for me to think about!

verse 16
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

this is what stood out to me and this for me means we should live our lives accordingly to God's commands and our actions should always revolve around him. Because for example if we live our lives the way we want to and just put ourself and our own desirs in front of everything, you will sin and you will not be living accordingly to God.

ik its pretty short but ist all i got and im suuper tired
gnite

Sorry that I'm really falling behind devotions with you guys. I'm not really getting what I should be getting besides black and white from this picture.

Ever since I started high school I felt more focused on my grades than daydreaming about God and anything to do with church. Can you guys pray for me to find something to motivate myself to incorporate a Christ-mindful mindset wherever I go? Thanks.

It's difficult but if you're having a shaky walk with God, just know that you're not ever going to be 100% "free to carry out your good intentions". It's kind of like... imagine you're playing a game. Every level gets more and more difficult, but at the same time, it's also rewarding! That's how I like to think of it as. Our lives have levels, and sometimes, you go down one and sometimes you go up one. It's easiest to move up when you're at the bottom and you're just zooming up to the harder levels.

Anyway, I guess what I have to keep in mind would be to remind myself that my walk with God isn't going to get much easier, and losing all my faith isn't an option.

I can say that i have not been making the best decision recently and i have to pray for that myself.
What i got from this passage is that even though you are struggling and making terrible decisions... there is always a way to fix it.
as the previous devotion said... People make wrong decisions, but with God, that can all change.
Always have a open spot for God because he will always come when you are in need of him.
W.W.J.D always think about that.

i also thought the same as joseph once i read today's devotion..."WWJD" i haven't been making right choices since school started because i keep getting side tracked by it. i always put God last...homework is sort of the top priorty it seems so pray and hope that i can change that. in a situation between right and wrong, think about what Jesus would do in the current situation you are in. you will be able to know if Jesus will like what you are doing or not so just do what he would like because that is the right thing.

I guess this devo ties in with the night before's. Has to do with avoiding sin and whatnot, but like the parable Jesus said about the fruits and their trees, we can make good fruits if we are a good "tree". By having strong roots in Christ, we can all grow healthy and strong to produce healthy fruit. Yet when we decide to live without a foundation, fruits might pop up and stuff, but they wouldn't be quite as nice as the healthy ones. Its always important to lead a healthy life. Its very much a cycle of doing good things and being a good person. If we area good person, we do good things, which makes us a better person, and so on. So always build yourself up to be more like Christ and produce strong, healthy fruit