Category: Christian Living

  • Better Than Eden

    Johann Wenzel Peter's 18th-century depiction of the Garden of Eden

    This image is Johann Wenzel Peter’s 18th-century depiction of the Garden of Eden. He shows the beauty of the unspoiled garden and the closeness between animals and humanity.

    Often, when we read the Genesis account in the Bible, we long for the days of Eden. God created a paradise for people and deemed it very good. That’s got to be pure, unspoiled, and marvelous beyond belief.

    It’s natural to long for something so beautiful and perfect. Yet, I don’t believe that God was content for humanity to live in the Garden of Eden.

    How can I say that?

    Follow my logic. God is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipresent(present everywhere). He is also infinitely merciful, loving, and just.

    That means that long before Eden was ever created, God knew that the serpent would tempt Adam and Eve and humanity would fall. Now we can speculate why He allowed it, but He hasn’t given us His reasons.

    He knew from before the first sin that He would send Jesus to pay the penalty and redeem us from sin, to make us heirs with Christ, and adopt us into the family of God.

    The Lord knew that what would follow for believers would be better than what they had and even better than the Garden of Eden.

    Revelation 21 and the first part of Revelation 22 describe in some detail what the New Heaven and Earth will be like. It’s hard to imagine.

    Then Revelation 22 goes on to say:

    No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:3-5 ESV

    We will be in paradise forever, present with the Lord. Every other believer will also be there to worship and fellowship with. No sin, no sorrow, and no shame. Better yet, no possibility of those things ever again.

    It will be like Eden but better.

    I can hardly wait to see it in all its fullness. What about you?

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

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  • There Is No Fruit of the Spirit without Holy Spirit

    puffball mushrooms

    Ah, the humble mushroom. There are approximately  20,000 classified varieties, with more being catalogued all the time. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. These colorful and often strange-looking organisms have been used in cooking and traditional medicine for millennia.

    This morning’s pic is a puffball mushroom, one of several varieties. Actually, that isn’t quite accurate. This is the fruit of a puffball mushroom.

    The puffy bodies of mushrooms that we are familiar with are only a small part of the mushroom. The larger portion of the fungus is its extensive mycelium, hidden beneath the earth or other substrates.

    The mycelium can be massive. According to one source, “The largest known living organism on earth is a fungus – an underground mycelial mat of the honey fungus in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, covering an incredible 2,385 acres.”

    If there is no mycelium, there is no mushroom fruit.

    The same holds true in the spiritual realm. If there is no Holy Spirit at work in us, there can never be fruit of the Spirit.

    For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:11-14

    The Holy Spirit allows us to discern things of the Spirit. It gives us the seed to grow spiritually. We nurture those seeds through spiritual disciplines such as reading Scripture, prayer, worship, serving, fasting, confession of sin, and more.

    All the spiritual disciplines in the world cannot grow the fruit of the Spirit if we don’t have Him. People of many faiths practice spiritual disciplines, in truth, often putting Christians to shame with their devotion and faithfulness. Yet, in the end, their efforts will prove fruitless because they don’t have Him. 

    Are you seeing the fruit of the Spirit in your life? Certainly, fruit is seasonal, and some fruit takes longer to mature than others, but if there is none, there is a problem.

    You may need to stop and ensure you are right with the Lord. Then you need to nurture what He has provided. 

    My prayer is that you become increasingly conformed into the image of Jesus and bear a vast harvest of the fruit of the Spirit. May your life reflect Him well.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

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    Fruit of the Spirit
    Every Member Is Necessary — 1 Corinthians 12