THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
What do you think is the most important thing in the Christian walk? Is it memorizing scripture? Is it going to church? I truly believe it is the heart posture. Walking in Love.
Without the heart posture, you can memorize scripture, you can go to church but you will not bear fruit for the kingdom or in your life. Fruit is healthy for you and others.
In Galatians 5:22-23, it says through the Holy Spirit we have the Fruits of the Holy 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”
But remember everything we do comes from the heart:
“Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23.
As Jesus said:
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” Luke 6:43-45
And there are many more verses on the bearing fruit and having a good heart are connected. Everything is connected since we have a body. Everything starts in our mind, it is our control tower. Our soul is a combination of our mind, will, and emotions.
You see, if we have a bad heart filled with hatred, envy, jealousy, and other things it will be hard for us to treat people nicely, it will be hard for us to do good deeds, it will be hard for us to make the right decision because if our decisions are not based on the foundation of Christ and the Holy Spirit then we are in the lost territory because without Jesus we cannot do anything that truly lasts.
As Jesus says here in John 15:1-27:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing”
We can't do anything without Christ.
Believe me, I have tried it, I have tried living without Christ, I have tried other religions, I have tried self-improvement techniques, I have tried everything but nothing and no one has more power than Jesus Christ our Lord and savior that died on the cross for us and gave us a new life here on earth and in heaven! Amen! He gave us the Holy Spirit to live in power and to remind us of what he told us in scripture. Wow-what a privilege to live with Jesus, even writing this I am convicted by the number of times I have complained to God because of what I went through or what I currently am going through or why we allowed that to happen, but I have to believe everything in this word is true. “And we know that ALL THINGS work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
So back to the heart.
Before you say you gotta do this or you gotta do that, I gotta read this I gotta read that, before you do anything else, ask Jesus to soften your heart, ask him to view people the same way he views others because they are all his children. There are people who graduate from seminary who know the Bible inside out but they don’t have God’s love in them, and only judgment which is the complete opposite of what Jesus teaches. Or you see these Youtube accounts always talking about what this Christian did or what that Christian does. If you memorize the Bible and scripture and have a bad heart you are no better than the Pharisees who pushed to get Jesus killed or even the devil who recited scripture to Jesus in the wilderness.
As Jesus said about judging and diving into other’s business:
Matthew 7:1-5
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Once we talk and judge others we immediately through the judgment back upon us so we actually don’t do any good there.
So how can we get a good heart? Well paradoxically is through reading the Bible but with the right intent, are you reading the Bible to cast judgment on others and to know the law so you can be more perfect than anyone else? Even though that will never happen because only Jesus is perfect. Or can you read the Bible and ask God and the Holy Spirit to open your heart, to refresh your mind and soul. To show you what revelation you need in order to get back into love.
If you are not living and showing God’s love then you’re doing the Jesus walk completely wrong. The whole book of the Bible is about love.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”
Imagine sacrificing your one and only son, and letting him suffer. But he suffered for us so that we can be set free from our bondages, mindsets, our addictions, and death! We are free.
We need to walk in love every day. Paul, the apostle gives the definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but does not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts always hope, and always perseveres.
“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see only a reflection in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known”
And now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
The culture has the definition of love completely wrong. Love is completely opposite to what the culture and society think love is. Many people go on a date and enter lust not love. Love is patient, but lust want’s it right now.
When you have the fruit of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit you should have love in your heart. But that is why it’s called the fruit of the spirit. How do plants grow? With a seed. So that means God gave you a seed of love, a seed of self-control, a seed of joy, a seed of generosity, a seed of faithfulness, a seed of gentleness, a seed of peace. This means it’s our job to water these seeds. We need to shift our focus on Jesus and ask him to help us water these seeds. He is the living water and he is the sun/son. And how do seeds grow? Through water and sunlight. So we need to keep abiding in him in order for the fruits of the spirit to grow.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6 about planting seeds and growing:
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building”
One of the biggest things in staying in love is discipline, we have to have self-control before we say things, think things, do things, etc. It says in the Bible we will never be tempted more than we can handle and God will always give us a way out. Discipline turns into devotion. Discipline turns into greatness. It is like going to the gym, when you first start going you may not be excited or even like it, but then you start seeing the results, and then on the days you don’t go you actually miss going. And that is what you can do when someone tells you something that aggravates you and then you hold your mouth instead of letting loose, that is a start. Instead of thinking about how to get someone back, why don’t you pray for them? Doing these minor things will create peace in your life and then you will be addicted to peace and never want to go back to havoc or dysfunction. As it says in the Bible, praying for your enemies does work, it’s very hard to stay mad at someone you pray for ( I have tried it). But little by little God will renew your habits and discipline. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. If we control our mouth we can control our whole body.
In James 3:2 - 6:
“ We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell”
Prayer:
God today I stand before you with an open heart and open hands. Please fill me with your love so I can overflow it into others. Use me as a vessel to help people, inspire and encourage others Lord. Show me how and where you want to use my gifts and how I can help someone today. I repent and I am sorry for any actions and mindsets that don’t align with your word but I pray that you guide me according to your word and that the Holy Spirit guides my heart, mind-body, and soul today and every day. I pray that you renew my mind according to your pattern and not the pattern of this world so we can bear fruit in season. Thank you God for all you have done, all you are currently doing, and all you are about to do. We will live in faith and expectancy for miracles, healing, and increase in every area of our life and we will be disciples for you. I pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen
God Bless, KB
