Fruit shake

What is growing in you?

Paul said the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

But fruit is not sprung from the vine fully grown or fully developed. It grows.

So, what is growing in you?

Have you noticed lately a growth in your patience? In your self-control? In your love?

What is it? I think it helps not only to pray for the growth in those things, and to notice that you can have all these things as opposed to one Spirit gift, but I think it helps to be on alert for them. In other words, watch and see which is growing and do what you can to help the growth. Fertilize it spiritually would be my recommendation.

I've noticed a growth in my faithfulness. There has been ample opportunities since he humongous step of going full time into the ministry and leaving our house behind. Though it remains without a renter, we've taken steps through the Spirit's help to pay for it anyway. Mary has been blessed with a job or two and the problem simply has gone away for now.

My faith has been tested and like the disciples when they began feeding the 5,000 and were amazed that as they fed they didn't' run out of food, I've been amazed that we have been able to accomplish this with little or no worry. That's so un-Billy-like.

Watch and see where the fruit is growing in your life. Paul says that if you're walking in the Spirit, you will have growth in these fruits.

The love you have for others will supernaturally grow. The joy you feel despite setbacks in your life will grow. The gentleness with which you live your life will grow.

The wonderfulness of all this is that, again, fruit doesn't spring forth fully grown. It grows, sometimes very slowly. But if you're looking, and if you're living it, you will actually get to see the growth. Faith is rewarded with growth and growth stretches your faith.

So sometimes when you don't feel you prayers are being answered and it seems that God is so far away and the desert is so hot and dry spiritually, it is good to note that some fruit grows even in the desert. That growing fruit is as good a confirmation as answers to prayer. It lets you know, if you still need that confirmation, that the Spirit is still alive and well in you.