Pure Spiritual Power

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

– Galatians 5:22-23

Have you ever... REALLY... taken the time to think about the Fruit of the Spirit?

Most of us, as believers think that the fruit of the Spirit is really nothing more than a passive list of pleasant qualities... (Nice huh?) that can help improve us as people. 

Hey!! Listen, they represent something far greater than that!! They produce Pure Spiritual Power.

Love is so powerful, the scripture says, that it never fails. 

Patience is so powerful it cannot be stopped. No matter what life throws, it will not quit. 

Temperance is so powerful it can master all the sinful desires of your flesh.

The fruits of the Spirit are not weak; they're strong. 

So strong all the demons of hell can't stop them. So strong that if you'll let them flow out of you, they'll correct the problems in your life. 

This Fruit will keep you steadfast when all the people around you are falling down. They'll keep you on your feet when governments fail and when the storms of life come crashing down.

We are living in dangerous days. All you have to do is turn on the TV and you can see that. There's only one way you can make it through victorious. You must begin to release those powerful Fruits of the Spirit, God has placed inside you. 

If you're a born again believer, they're there. Learn to yield to them and as 2 Peter 1:10 promised, you shall never fall!!!!!!

Until next time, have a blessed week... Chew on this Soul Food!!!

Burk

Be The Seed!!!

Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.

– Luke 13:18-19

Let's start out with the basics....How does a seed grow? Does it happen all at once? Does it produce fruit immediately? No... Of course not, it grows constantly-- 24 hours a day-- 7 days a week-- 365 days a year, a little at a time until it finishes what it was created to do.

Many of us don't think or operate that way spiritually. 

Ex.: We study and pray very hard for a few days and then get too busy, life takes over, and we quit!! 

Then, when life's disasters come, we make a mad attempt to pray and stand on the Word, all the while realizing that, for some reason, we're WEAK!!!

There's no such thing as an overnight success in the kingdom of God!! and the People who said they were or are.... ARE LYING!!! 

Real strength, real growth, depth of roots come as you consistently and constantly keep the Word before your eyes, in your ears, and written in your heart. Not just when you want to or when you feel like it, but constantly, like the seed, always growing, always maturing, a little, all the time.

A Youth came up to me one time and said, "Dude, your ministry just took off overnight, how'd it happen?"

My response was..."Ha. Ha If it did," I answered, "it was certainly the longest night I ever spent in my life! Ha. Ha"

From his perspective my success did seem to spring up quickly. That's because he didn't see me during all those hours and weeks and months and years I spent in the Word of God. I'm still there!!! Hahaha 

He didn't see the daily process that lay behind that success. He just saw the results.

Make up your mind to begin that daily process of constant growth today. Determine to start putting the Word of God in your heart consistently. Every day a line here, a line there-- a CD... here, a CD there.

Begin to act as though that Word is true every hour of the day regardless of what comes or how you feel. Keep building up your faith, meditating on it, confessing it, seven days a week.

Eventually, your faith will be bigger than you ever dreamed it could be.

Blessings,

Burk

Paddlin' Upstream Can Be Hard Work

Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

– Psalm 141:3

Do you believe that it is important for you to watch over your mouth? It's sounds crazy, but most believers don't. You can tell that just by listening to what comes out of their pie-hole. 

Here's an example: They profess to be trusting God concerning their situations. But you might hear them say something like this: "I'm just sure it's my lot in life. It gets harder and harder every year. I guess I'll just kepp on, keepin' on 'til Jesus comes back...."

Do you think.... people who have that type of stuff coming out of their mouth, truly have what they say?

You can bet your bippy they do!! 

Check with them a few weeks after their statements, and they'll be right where they spoke they'd be. But, odds are, if you try to tell them that there's any connection between the words they spoke and the situation they are suffering through, they'll look at you as if you had 3 heads.

Of course, if they'd dig into the Word of God and find out what it has to say about the subject, they'd realize that the words they speak have a tremendous impact on their lives. 

They'd see that it can literally determine their future. If you're a born-again believer, you've already experienced the most powerful example of that. 

You believed with your heart and confessed with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you changed the eternal course of your life. You know firsthand just how powerful your words can be.

Yet, we find that speaking God's Word consistently is tough to do. I've been at it myself for many years now and, despite all the time I've spent on it and all the experiences I've had, it's still something I have to watch all the time!!!!!

You see, the world around you is in the stream of a negative flow. Like a rushing river, it's always pulling at you, trying to get you to flow with it. 

Living by faith and speaking God's Word is like trying to paddle upstream. You can do it--but it's a great deal of work. And there's never a time you can afford to take a vacation from it. If you relax a little bit you'll just start drifting right back down the river. (Sound Familiar??)

Make the decision right now to watch what comes out of your mouth. Determine to consistently fill your mouth with the Word of God. "Attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings" (Prov. 4:20). Let God's Word empower you to watch everything you say, and eventually, you will find that you a little further upstream!!!!

Have a Great Week!!

Blessings,

Burk

Callin' all Old People, God ain't done w/ You

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

– Isaiah 40:31

Here's a little known fact... (you like factoids?) faith has the power to rejuvenate your physical body? (C'mon everybody say it," WHATCHU TALKIN" BURK?)  I'm serious, It's true. You can see this in the life of Sarah. 

Most people don't understand the full extent of what God did for her and in her. All they know is... (Bible time everyone)  He enabled her to have a child when she was OLD.

But if you take a second and look a little closer, you'll see that there was more to it than just having a baby and being old!! When Sarah grabbed ahold of the promise of God through faith, it began to restore her physically.... in such a crazy way, that when King Abimelech saw her, he wanted her for his wife. HA HA!!!

Think about that!! At 90 years old, (9-0)  she was such a Hotty that a king wanted her in his harem. (That's like my Grandma Monners (91) gettin' asked out by a Younger dude!!!) HA HA!!

What's more, after she gave birth to Isaac, the Bible says, she nursed him till he was weaned. (That's just nasty!!)

Then she kept right on living until that boy was raised!!!

Now, I'm not telling you... you can have a baby at 90 like Sarah did. So, please hear me out!!! She had a specific promise, a word from God about that. 

I'm telling you... that if you'll believe God for renewed strength and health in your old age... He'll provide it for you. God's not finished with the seasoned generation!!! In fact, we need you now more than ever!!! This generation needs Spiritual Moms & Dads (Grandma's & Grandads)

Don't sit down!! We NEED YOU!!!

Psalm 103 says that's one of God's benefits. It says God will fill your mouth with good things so your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

God's desire for you in your old age is that you are a powerful, experienced champion of the Word with your strength renewed by faith. 

Start confessing that today. Fill your mouth with the promises of God. Say, "Praise God, my youth is renewed like the eagle's." Hahaha

You'll still go to heaven when your work on earth is through--but you won't just fade away. You'll fly out of here in a blaze of glory like the conqueror God created you to be.

Have a wonderful week. Chew on this Soul Food.... (and if you are over the age of 60, this is a mandatory movie..... Disney's "Up")

Blessings,

Burk