(If it is welcome and a blessing, send it on to others,Lee)
Last night was a tear producing night for me, as we birthed another cell group. Three couples who have begun a new venture. Its akin to seeing your child leave the home as an adult, knowing you will see her, but breaking something away, that will always be good memories, yet tears will fall. I personally will miss the 5 children that go with the group.
Two of these children call me "pastor dude", because they were so much younger when we first met, they thought my name was "dude"(probably from one of those lines dad used; "hey dude"). Two of the children have gone from screaming children to polite 6 and 4 year olds. Their parents have come such lengths that they often aren't recognizable to old friends.
Oh, I will see them again, but the settings will be different. The house settings different. They have grown up. The direction of our church is to produce functioning cells of people, being trained up for the ministry, being perfected as described in Ephesians 4. The goal is to often take non-functioning people and see them turned into people who function. Sometimes its finances, depression or family difficulties. Our job is to direct them to a relationship with Jesus that causes them to grow.
So last night was difficult, but it also directed me to the next fruit of the Spirit. Goodness.
Goodness-the act of producing something good, doing something kind or charitable.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Being a pastor or a church leader is servanthood. Make no mistake about that. If you are seeking ministry, as I did, you are pursuing a good thing, but you are also being elevated to a greater degree of serving. And the fruit we are discussing today is goodness. And the scenario regarding cell multiplication is a tiny example of what goodness is in a church.
It produced good. It is a good thing as well as a God thing. God produced the increase here. In an individual to have the goodness fruit, one must have the Godness factor. God produces the desire to do good.
Goodness says it produces good. What is producing good. I believe it is simply that if my wife is smiling after a three day vacation (this is by faith-we go away next week for the first time in a nearly 2 years!) goodness has produced it. In this case the kindness is recognizing the need to get away and the charitable (loving) act is to go producing good fruit.
I realize it seems simple. And yet in meditating on it, I have seen many acts in my Christian walk that weren't fruits of goodness, but of badness. Need a tip on what is badness? How about this?
Galatians 5
These are the fruits (death fruit!) of the flesh. These are not good things.
Goodness bestows honor upon those around us. It bestows love and kindness upon our families and friends. It does the right thing even when offered the opportunity to do the wrong thing.
For some this may appear to simplistic. And yet God says, walking in the Spirit produces these benefits, these fruits. Goodness-pursue it. Too often we look at scriptures like this and having read it so many times it doesn't jump out at us. But the question today is; was there goodness in your life yesterday? Would an outsider inventorying your life say "Wow! Look at all the goodness coming out of their life! I want that!" And if they wouldn't, remember that GOD's blessings and mercies are new every day. This is not like washing the floor every day, it's getting a new floor every day!!!
Today, soak in God's goodness, seeing the good things He is doing for you, passing it on to others.
Dear Friends:
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions (resistance to lawful authority), heresies (my definition-deviation or failure to use scripture contextually!),
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Selah.
Shalom.
We pray for you, each and every day. If this is an encouragement to you. Please tell us, and please email it to someone else. If you have a prayer request, please mail it to us. We want to stand with you, battling spiritual wickedness, seeing people made free. We want to serve our brother and sister.
In the Service of Christ for His Glory,
Lee Johndrow
For more information on this ministry or to receive our newsletter
please mail us at:
154 Paddock Road
Springfield, Vermont 05156
For those who support us in prayer and deed we appreciate it.
Thank you,
Lee & Tina Johndrow
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