Bad Apples

"Fruit of righteousness will be peace, its effect will be quietness and confidence forever!"
Isaiah 32:17
 



"When the women saw that the fruit of the tree was good and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it." Gen. 3:6


Ugh....that first bite......it is always taken because we are desiring something........

I have eaten my share of bad fruit.  Just like Eve, it looked similar to the good fruit around me, but it was subtlely different.  The enemy is truely an evil schemer.  He offers that one piece, and if you take it....your lens begin to shift ever so slightly.  Then each piece of fruit that you continue to eat, over time, continues to skew your lens of reality...It is so subtle....if it wasn't we could recognize it right from the start.  By the time we have finished the fruit, we have such a warped view of our relationships, our self worth and our relationship with God....Am I the only one that has ever been there????

It is time to call it for what it is.....DECEPTION!!  It is time for our spiritual detox.  God has a never ending supply of organic fruits that have been grown in His rich, healthy soil!  His fruits are the sweetest....love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  When I get away with HIM,  he slices the fruits and gives me pieces of each one and speaks His sweet love over me.  Slowly my lens begin to realign....the toxins of the bad fruit are cleansed from my mind.  I am so very thankful for the clarity that comes and the sweetness of God showing me where I took that first bite of the bitter fruit.  He wraps me up in love and shows me who I really am and he alone fulfills me....He is really what I have been desiring all along.....

My prayer is that I will continue to run to God for my Fruit of the Spirit Smoothies!!  That I fill myself of Him.  I pray that I quickly recognize that toxic fruit when it is dangled in front of me.  I am tired of bitting into the fruit and the heartache that comes after it.  I want to walk hand in hand with my Maker.   Lord, help me to recognize when I am handed the fruit of lies and deception and  that I give it to you.  You tell me that the "fruit of righteousness will be peace, its effect will be quietness and confidence forever!" Isaiah 32:17.

This is what my heart desires!

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