Fruit part 3
You have to receive before you can release. Because you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. Look at Matthew 10:7-8, "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." And look at what, in context, we have received--healing and wholeness. Life. The gift of God is what Jesus came that we might have: Life, and that more abundantly. If you have life... you can give life. If you eat the fruit of the Spirit (which is love, which is Jesus's abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life) you can give it. He is the vine. He produces the fruit. It's HIS life. WE are the branches. We simply bear the fruit. We make it available to those who need it. And, by the way, those who need it... is everybody. It's not about people earning it or deserving it. It's about seeing a need and meeting it. That's our job. That's our calling. That's what it's all about. Knowing who you are and BEING who you are. Giving what you've got. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Receiving it and releasing it. Freely you have received, freely you can give. You can give... because you HAVE something to give. You are God's garden. That is such a key, vitally important revelation. Look at Song of Solomon 4:12, "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." In the context of this poem, God is the man and we are the woman. He is the husband and we are the bride. The problem, of course, is that we are (WERE) inclosed, or shut up. We have what we need inside of us, but either don't know it or don't believe it. So then a few verses later after God lets us know all of the good things inside us we see, "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasent fruits" (SOS 4:16). When the wind (that is the Holy Spirit... remember when it descended on the upper room after Jesus's death it sounded like a great rushing wind) blows... all of that good stuff that is locked up inside of us... gets unlocked. When the wind blows the seed scatters. And if that seed finds good ground it will be planted and it will grow. Not to mix my metaphors too much, but the sower sows. That's our job. Take what we've got and spread it all over. And then... what's that old commercial? Set it and forget it? Something like that. We don't have to worry about making the seed grow. That's not our job. Some plant, some water, but it is God who brings the harvest. He has given us all of those things we talked about at the beginning of this Rant. He has provided for us. He is our provision. We don't have to earn anything, or "get" anything. We have it all. Seeking first the Kingdom isn't about seeking something we don't have. It's about seeking to find out what we do have. Exploring the Kingdom. And making the Kingdom our first choice instead of our last chance. We really need to come to a place of being in the world but not of the world. A place of making sure we are experiencing the days of heaven on earth. A place where we know what we have... and USE what we have. A place where we know what we have... and give what we have! That's how we use it. That's how we experience and enjoy it. What you believe is inside you WILL come out. Hurting people hurt people. But loved people love people. It flows out from inside. The garden was shut until thte wind started to blow. Now all the fruit inside of you is available for others to eat!