PIC: My oldest grandson (in 2024)
Little by little I have been learning to be more and more… like Jesus (emphasis on “slowly learning”!). Being better at anything seems to always take lots of time and practice. I’m consciously practicing. I’m workin’ at it. How ’bout you?
We will produce His love
The will of God for me is without a doubt — to be more like Christ. The Bible teaches we will become more like Christ as we grow in our faith. We will produce His love – the fruit of the Spirit. I’m not a poser. I’m actually doing it!
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Excerpt from Is your life fruit – agape love?:
What is your “life fruit“? (Galatians 5:22-23)
Paul teaches that those who are truly “in Christ” will indeed produce this fruit — called love. Got a lot of that fruit?
The fruit of the Spirit
Others will see it.
35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”
– John 13:35
Agape love will visibly show-up in your life with…
…how you treat people, your “doing things” for others, your having “a willingness to seek the best for another“, your being unselfish, you developing new habits of love, you loving your enemies (Luke 6:35), your being friendly, being cordial and gracious, your being pleasing to God and those around you, your being kind and thoughtful – not rude (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), you tolerating others and being biblical, your being known by your love (John 13:34-35).
We can love others because His Spirit is continually at work inside us, little by little producing lots of…
“…love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
– Source: Is your life fruit – agape love?
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I’m pretty sure that people who are self-centered and impatient with others — are not very aware of what true love is. You think? Love is:
- something people see in you because of how you act
- patient – kind – loving your enemies
- not rude – not easily upset – not irritable
- “not a sappy, sentimental feeling” (See: What is agape love?)
Agape love in the Bible (partial list): 1 Corinthians 13, Galatians 5:22-23, John 13:35, Matthew 22:36–9, Luke 10:25–37.
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Actually acting on it
What do you know about your faith in Christ? I ask myself: “Self: Are you actually acting on it… acting on your faith? Are you purposely stepping out upon the stepping stones of faith as you make your way along the pathway of your life?”
…Look ahead. Plan ahead. Know what you believe. Know what you have been granted in Christ. Know the promises of God in the Bible. And then, step-out!
Make decisive decisions of faith. Do life purposely, not willy-nilly (Google it!). Act on what you know. We can actually be who we are. We can actually act on what we say our faith is.
– Source: Actually act on what you know
“…act upon the knowledge of faith….”
– Source: Francis Schaeffer in his book, True Spirituality. | Quoted by Andrée Seu Peterson in her World Magazine article (in 4th paragraph): The power of now |
“Call forth what’s yours with no double-mindedness.”
– Andrée Seu Peterson in The power of now
FOR MORE:
What do you produce with your life? Are you still growing? Still learning?
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Love-Agape (Greek Word Study) | from preceptaustin.org
Love and Agape Love in the Greek and in the New Testament
Is your life fruit – Agape Love?
Growing into our natural new life in Christ
This is part of a series on Every believer’s new life in Christ: Ephesians 1
- You are here: Growing into our natural new life in Christ
- Every believer’s new life in Christ [Part One]
- Explaining the Basic Christian Experience [Part Two]
Our Life As God Sees It – Ephesians 2:1-10
*Capture each part of the process of being made alive in Christ.
Here the passage is broken into its separate phrases and nuanced truths
…explained here by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1-10.
Being 100% given-over to Jesus
We know what Jesus believes. Do you agree with Him?
About past sins and being forgiven now
God is my Refuge and My Strength
301 things you are in Christ | Author: CGrobler
We know the will of God in this
Who I really really am Excerpt: Life. It’s not an easy road. But as I live my daily grind, I don’t have to let it grind me down.
Life’s a wild, buckin’ bronco ride. God chose the saddle I’m on, and there’s no gettin’ away from it. You gotta ride what’s under your saddle!
Sometimes I feel I’m walking down a rocky mountain trail, alone… and a pit-bull’s workin’ its way up my leg.
But, each day I am renewed and instilled with new energy and hope when I turn it all over to Him.
My hope is not in being saved from it all. My hope is knowing He is my all. He is my confidence and my hope. Read Hebrews 13:5-6.
Who I am is not
“what I’m going through”.
Who I am is a constant:
I am a child of the King,
an heir to The Throne,
and nothing I’m going through
can make me less.
Nothing can take me away
from His love for me.
– Source: Who I really really am
Double-minded means both loving Jesus AND loving a different gospel
Ever grasped that feeling of being wrong with Jesus?
Jesus will reject many “Christians”
What you think and practice as compared with what Jesus thinks
What happens when you do not know what the Bible says on a matter?
Trying God’s patience too long
Letting it reign until Hell is Home
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