Godsfruitful
Encouraging others in Christ
Archive for the category “trials”
The seventh piece truly means completion and perfection:)
Did you know that Prayer is part of the FULL Armour of God? It is!!
While participating in doing my homework for the War Room Bible study, I’ve come to understand this important aspect. I count six pieces of the armor, but prayer makes seven. Most of us know that in  the Bible the number seven represents completion or perfection. I’d say that prayer truly is both! 🙂
In Ephesians 6:10-17, we are told that in the Christian life we battle against “principalities and powers.” (the powerful evil forces or fallen angels headed by satan who is a vicious fighter, see 1 Peter 5:8). To withstand the attacks, we must depend on God’s strength and use every piece of His armour. Paul is not only giving this counsel to the church, the body of Christ, but to all individuals within the church. The whole body needs to be armed.
As we do battle against “the rulers of the darkness of this world,” fight in the strength of the church, whose power comes from the Holy Spirit.
One does not commonly equate prayer with battle attire, but it is no accident that Paul commands believers to pray when engaging in spiritual warfare.
EPHESIANS 6:18
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
One way to pray constantly is to make quick, brief prayers our habitual response to every situation we meet throughout the day. Another way is to order our life around God’s desires and teachings so that our very life becomes a prayer
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: We don’t have to isolate ourselves from other people and from daily work in order to pray regularly. We can make our prayer our life and our life a prayer while living in a world that needs God’s powerful influence.
Let’s remember that we have a POWERFUL WEAPON and that we can use it today and every day! 🙂
An EMPTY chair, Bagged garbage, and a Rolled up RUSTY fence:)
I get SO EXCITED when I see something that speaks “OH, THIS IS AN excellent PICTURE FOR A BLOG!”
Today is a BEAUTIFUL DAY to SIT QUIETLY and decide if you have a RUSTY FENCE that needs to be rolled up and some GARBAGE that needs to be BAGGED !
PHILIPPIANS 3:7-9
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
After Paul considered everything he had accomplished in his life, he said that it was all worthless when compared with knowing Christ. This is a profound statement about values: a person’s relationship with Christ is more important than anything else. To know, Christ should be our ultimate goal.
Sometimes, we can allow worldly things to accumulate in our lives, and that can lead to placing our security and confidence in the wrong areas. After a while, God will remove the rusty fence of protection that we built around what we thought was OUR INDEPENDENCE.
God demands a TOTAL SURRENDER 
of our lives to Him
We need to SIT QUIETLY before him and BAG UP THE GARBAGE that keeps us from being one hundred percent usable and ROLL UP THE RUSTY FENCE that we’ve put up around our OWN INDEPENDENCE.
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: We need to consider our values and not place anything above or around our relationship with Christ. Our independence should be depended  COMPLETLY  UPON HIM!
Let’s DEPEND ONLY UPON CHRIST today and every day:))
Washed, Emptied, and NO RECORDS to file:)))
OH MY!!!!!! You all know me by now that I can’t pass a picture like this up without a blog post:)))))
NO RECORDS OF SIN, ONCE WASHED AND CLEANED
PSALMS 51:1-4
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions:
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight:
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and be clear when thou judgest.
We see that David was truly sorry for his adultery with Bath-sheba and for murdering her husband to cover it up. He knew his actions had hurt many people. But because David repented of those sins, God mercifully forgave him. No sin is too great to be forgiven!
While God forgives us, however, He does not always erase the natural consequences of our sin-David’s life, and family were never the same as a result of his sin (2 Samuel 12:1-23).
We are also told in Scripture that God does not keep a record of our sins.
HEBREWS 10:17
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
The writer concludes his argument with this powerful statement that God will never remember our sins. Christ forgives completely, so there is no need to confess our past sins repeatedly.
We are told in REVELATION 21:27
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie:but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: As believers, we can be confident that the sins we confess and renounce are forgiven and forgotten.
Let’s live our life today and every day knowing that God keeps NO RECORDS of our past and forgiven sins! STAY CLEAN IN HIS SIGHT:))
A procrastinator, A Rip, and a REALIZATION…
Do you know that procrastination should go hand in hand with a thankful heart? I never thought about such a question, until this morning as I began to iron a pair of slacks for my son’s event. I kept remembering every day this past week that ‘the pants are needed on Saturday,’ which is NOW TODAY...
As I completed the last pressing along the pocket area, I was thinking “Not too bad, I got this!” I took a deep sigh of relief, thinking how I could NOW get on with my day…
IT WAS THEN, IN THAT MOMENT THAT I realized all too precisely why I had been given a weeks notice about the slacks… ALONG the pocket area was an inch and a half RIP …. Oh dear!!! needless to say, I wasn’t expecting this! Seems that I recalled something about a pair of slacks with a rip, but who’d think that it was THIS PAIR, I had like five more pairs to choose from, but he needed this pair!!
As I got my sewing machine out, wound a black thread bobbin, and threaded up the machine, I began to sew frantically hoping that it would work correctly. Once I saw that it turned out perfectly, It was then that I realized just how thankful I was that God is always there to calm and help me. I’m not the best seamstress, 
and someone with my limited ability needs all of the help that they can get…May sound silly, but I know that God watched over me, not only to get it done but done correctly!
1 CHRONICLES 29:11-12
11 Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty:for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
David acknowledged God’s greatness. Our constantly changing world is controlled by a constant and unchanging God. During our lifetime, we see objects fade, materials decay, and friends change, but we can depend on God’s control. His love and purpose for us never change.
Only when we understand this can we have real peace and security.
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: No matter if we see the GREATNESS of God through the parting of the Red Sea or repairing a torn pocket, God knows all things and is in control. I learned my lesson about procrastination as well as a reminder that God is always with us through the big and the small
Let’s do our best in acknowledging the GREATNESS of God today and every day!
Are you distressed with your thorn today? DON’T BE :))
Did you expect NOT to learn the hard way? As I look back over the past nine years since accepting Christ into my heart, I realize just how much I didn’t know when making my profession of faith. I understood and trusted that Christ died for my sins, forgave my sins once I repented, and my salvation was secure in Him. The Holy Spirit indwelled and filled me with a willingness and hunger that’s always been hard to explain, in fact, my family sometimes thought I may have been just a little over the top at times :))!!
I’ve recently begun to understand that it truly is trials in life that cause us to grow in our trust in Christ. I’m talking about situations that cause you to know what it means to say “I’m a sinner saved by GRACE.” 
It’s only after repeated attempts to get out of where we currently are trapped in our situations that we have no control over, That we are finally aware that He is entirely in control and will give us all that we stand in need of this day and every day.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:8-10
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ sakes: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
We don’t know what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was because he doesn’t tell us. Some have suggested that it was Malaria, epilepsy, or a disease of the eyes (Galatians 4:13-15). Whatever it was, it was a chronic and debilitating physical problem, which at times kept him from working.
This thorn was a hindrance to his ministry, and he prayed for its removal, but God refused. Paul was a very self-sufficient person, so this thorn was difficult for him. It kept Paul humble, reminded him of his need for constant contact with God and benefited those around him as they saw God at work in his life.
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION:Â Although God did not remove Paul’s affliction, He promised to demonstrate His power in Paul. God’s power shows up in weak people and should give us courage.
Let us recognize our limitations, admit our weaknesses and affirm God’s strength today and every day!
**PLEASE READ**
Hello blogging family:)
I hope that you all are well and busy encouraging others in Christ!! You all are a blessing to me and encouraging as well:))
I want to tell you about ‘FRUIT BITES’ !!
A FRUIT BITE is a 2 minute video segment for encouragement. I hope to upload on M W F.
I hope it will encourage others. Sometimes it’s easier to watch than to read, so maybe on the days that you are running short on reading time, you can just listen to the 2 minute FRUIT BITE
and get a BIG BITE of encouragement to help you along in your day!
God Bless you ALL and please continue to keep up the GREAT EFFORTS that you all put forth with encouraging others in Christ!!
I’m stepping out of my comfort zone with creating FRUIT BITES. We must be fruitful for Him! 🙂
Sincerely,
Kim Mefford
Godsfruitful.net
Godsfruitful 