By Their Fruits Shall Ye Know Them

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,…”
~ Galatians 5:22-23

Several times, in the writings of Paul, he names off many of the fruits of the Spirit of God. These fruits of the Spirit of God are things like Love, Joy, Peace, etc. If these are the fruits of the Holy Spirit of God, then what are the fruits of the devil???

The fruits of following an evil spirit must be the opposite of following the Holy Spirit of God. Therefore, the fruits of the devil would be things like hatred, anger, hurting people, contention, arguing, murmuring, complaining, upset, grumpy, impatient, refuse to help, not willing to suffer for someone, refuse to care, being bad, saying bad things about someone, gossiping, withholding, taking, dishonesty, cheating, adultery, breaking your word, not keeping your word, covenant breaker, roughness, harshness, not being careful, indulgent, intemperate, spazing, greedy, saying rude things, finding fault with others, saying they do it too, you know it is wrong, but you do it anyway; and the list goes on.

If a person is doing any of these things, then they do NOT have the Spirit of God, but they are following the spirit of a devil! No person is justified before God in doing any of these things. In fact, those who do these things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

All is not lost! If you find yourself following this evil spirit then repent. Stop doing these things and start following the Holy Spirit of God, by loving people out here, not just in your head or in your heart, but out here as well. And after love, Joy, uplift people, spread peace, be patient and longsuffering with people, be gentle, be helpful, spread goodness wherever you go, be faithful to all, be meek, be temperate, look only to spread goodness wherever you go. This is the Spirit of Holiness. Plant this tree, and only produce the good fruit of the Spirit of God!

Comfortable

I have been thinking about this concept of being comfortable.  People finding a church, or a group of like minded people, who have the same or similar beliefs, with which a person can be comfortable.  And I find this interesting, because if a person does not like what is written in the scriptures, they try to change the meaning of what is written, so they can feel comfortable.  And they find another group of people or a church, which has the same changed meaning of the scriptures, so they can feel comfortable together.

It is ironic, people want to be good and follow the Lord, and yet if there is something in the scriptures that they do not want to do, they find as many excuses as they possibly can, of why they do not have to do it.  And if they cannot find a suitable excuse, they change the definition of what they are instructed to do.  That way they can still say they are doing what they are supposed to do, and try to not feel bad about why they are not doing it.

But, I am a person who believes in the bottom line.  I only believe in results.  How can I feel comfortable if I do not get the results that are promised by the Lord in the scriptures.  Therein is the problem.  All these places where people go to feel comfortable with their beliefs, they do not get the results of what is promised in the scriptures.  What is the Point?  If the Lord comes and says:  You will get this if you follow me.  And if a person does not get what the Lord has promised, then that person is not following the Lord.  If the Lord comes and says:  If the members of my Church, who live in such and such a way, they will get these blessings.  Now if you or your church do not get those blessings, then you are not living the way the Lord said.  What is the point of making a church that does not follow the Lord?  Or in other words, what is the point of making a church that does not get the results the Lord has promised, and therefore proves that that church is not the Lord’s church?

If you are not getting the results the Lord promised, then you are not following the Lord’s Gospel, so what is the point of making another church?  Why go?  You are not doing it right, because you are not getting the results.  If you are not getting the results, you are obviously not following the Lord.  So, if you are not following the Lord, why make a church, or a group of like minded people to deceive yourselves?  When people do not get the results the Lord promised, they are not following the Lord, they have changed the doctrine.  They have changed the Gospel.  They have changed the ordinances. 

And how can a person tell if the church/group/person has changed the ordinances, or are following the wrong ordinances????

Because they do not get the results promised by the Lord! 

I just do not understand why a person would want to go to a church/group/religion that does not get the results promised by the Lord?

You have a right to believe any way you like, but if your beliefs do not bare the correct results that the Saviour said, then what is the point?  You are only deceiving yourself and others.

Instead, go to the Lord and like minded people of the Lord, who get the results the Lord promised.  Humble yourselves enough to learn from them, and get the same results the Lord promised for yourself.  Blessed are those who come down into the depths of humility, and learn from their fellow man.

Alma 16 - Planting The Seed

What if you had a craving for muffins?

And you have tried many recipes in your life, and none of those recipes made muffins that satisfied you?

What if someone showed up and said they had a recipe direct from the Lord, and you noticed that they were always satisfied, and enjoying their muffins. What if they offered to share that recipe with you?

What if you just could not bring yourself to follow that recipe, the whole thing is just too suspicious. You have tried so many recipes in your life, and you just do not have the energy to keep trying. What do you do?

But this recipe is claimed to have come from the Lord, and all who follow it are showing good results, so you think about that. You watch and you think, and you let that curiosity work within you, until you start to desire to give it a try.

But you are cynical, and give up a few times, and change the recipe here and there (just a little), so it will not work out and you can say it was a bad recipe. They you can feel proud of yourself that you were right all along. Of course, you know you did not follow the recipe, and others are still getting the results, and you still desire to have some decent muffins, so secretly, you give the recipe another chance.

This time you follow the recipe perfectly, and you get some good results. You get wonderful muffins that taste so good! You cannot believe it, so you make up some nonsense about it just being a fluke, and throw the recipe away.

But eventually you crave those muffins again, and you search out the bakers who are following that recipe, and you ask them to share it with you. They do, and you start baking the best muffins of your life.

With time, you get better and better at following the recipe, and your muffins taste better and better!