The fruits of the Spirit have more to offer.

When you begin to understand how much God loves you, it’s easy and natural to love Him back like you never have before. You develop a deep and passionate desire to know more about Him. He’s God. He’s so much more than we can even imagine. And the wonderful thing is, the more we want, the more there is to know.

There is always more to have in the kingdom, even the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Now imagine a fruit tree. Have you ever noticed that the fruit at the top is always riper than the fruit lower down? Those are the ones the birds go after because they’re the juiciest. They’re the ones you have to climb up for.

Salvation is free to everyone who received Jesus as Lord, but beyond that, what we get from the kingdom depends on how much we want. Some servants returned profits from the talents their master left them and some buried them. (Mat 25:15)

I think there is more to all the gifts that we’ve been given if we press in. I want to know what is at the top of the tree. I want to climb up higher and explore the sweeter fruits. Who’s with me?

Related post: Keep A Noble Heart

You can only enter the kingdom as a little child.

Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. (Mk 10:15) That is a sobering statement. What’s the difference between an older child and a little child?

An older child will have learned some things from adults, like manipulation and self-defense. If I do this or work hard enough, Daddy will love me. Or entitlement. I’ve done this, I’ve believed that, so I deserve this.

A little child still carries innocent trust in Papa. He is all her world and the source of good things. She is delighted by simple blessing and longs to be held and loved. His eyes are the focus of her attention and she is expressive in her delight.

We need to seriously examine our hearts and check to see where we measure on the child meter. If we cannot enter the kingdom of God, then we have lost everything. We are responsible for our own admittance to the kingdom.

Are you full of pride, anger, doubt, fear, worry, jealousy? God does not expect perfection, but if He is convicting you in some area of your life, then He means that it should be removed. Confess your sin and receive His blessing. Enter into the kingdom filled with wonder and trust in you Papa.

Related post: Choose To Be His Child

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart

Choose to be thankful.

Thankfulness is more than a courtesy, it’s an attitude. It’s understanding that all good things come from God, regardless of where we see the source. Thankfulness walks hand in hand with humility. If you don’t have the humility to see that you are blessed, then you can’t be thankful.

Choose to be thankful when things go bad. Make the decision to thank the waitress for bringing the food when it’s taking too long. Make the choice to see the good and not the bad. Be thankful when you’re grumpy and you lift your own spirit.

We enter God’s gates with thankfulness because He is good. When you stop and literally count your blessings, you can’t help but be full of gratitude. Spread that around. Be thankful for each kindness you receive. Be thankful when you pray. But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known to God. (Ph 4:6)

Thankfulness comes from understanding the great gift of salvation that we’ve been given. It is the humility of knowing that we don’t deserve it. We choose to be thankful because we know that we are saved and covered in grace. It’s a choice that defines us as the Redeemed.

Check out this post also: Thankfulness Positions You For Blessing

Salvation is not about avoiding hell.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but salvation is not about avoiding hell. For most of my life, that’s what I thought it was. I was grateful that I was saved so I wouldn’t go to hell. My life was all about looking forward to heaven, and I had no clear understanding of what that really meant.

And then I came to understand that salvation is really about knowing God and embracing the promise of “on earth as it is in heaven”. This was a radical revelation to me. That I could know God intimately now and live in blessing instead of enduring to the end was a dynamic transformation in my faith. Embracing God with all my heart, soul, and mind opened new doors to revelation.

If your faith is all about fire insurance, then you have no power at all. How will you heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead? How will you speak to the mountain and make it be removed if all you have is hope that you won’t go to hell?

To live as God has promised requires that you turn your heart away from what you fear to delight in who He is. Salvation is living in blessing and power today.

Check out this post as well: Salvation = Transformation

Can you love someone without being loved back? It’s hard to do. Our humanity requires people to earn their love. It’s amazing to realize the heart of God. Even when people outright rail against Him, He still loves with a passion we’ll never understand.

Loving others who won’t love back.

And we’re supposed to love like that. When we are hurt, we’re to turn the other cheek. Not in defiance, but in love. When we’ve been snubbed, ignored, or rebuked, we need to love back. It’s absolutely contrary to our nature, but it is what God expects from us.

There is only one way to love like that. We have to have the Holy Spirit in us to give us His love. Our human love will only go so far, then our hurt takes over. Loving through God will not keep us from getting hurt, but it will rise up above the pain.

Give your hurts to Jesus. Ask Him to help you love where you cannot on your own. You will be the presence of God to someone who desperately needs it, even though they will not admit it. Ask God for wisdom to know how to love in the most effective way. Be Jesus to someone who needs to see Him.

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