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What is love? “Love” has been horribly abused in today’s world. It’s been seen as an uncontrollable emotion that leads to destructive behavior, or as empty words thrown back and forth with no substance. The love that is listed as the fruit of the Spirit in  Galatians 5:22  is much different. It is translated from the Greek word agape, used here to express the highest form of love that comes through the Holy Spirit. The love we are supposed to be demonstrating must be a godly love, which comes from God, the being who personifies this attribute. This agape love which the Holy Spirit manifests in believers in the Greek language   is very precise. This love is not a feeling, but a choice. It is the choice to be kind, to sacrifice, to consider another's needs greater than one's own ( Philippians 2:3 ).  Agape  is used in all of the “hard” love verses in the New Testament: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for...

The Bible often uses the metaphor of fruit to describe the produce of our lives. Are we producing fruit? Fruit can be either good or bad. Romans 7:5  says, “For when we were in the realm of the flesh . . . we bore fruit for death.” A fruitful Christian (Christ Follower) will produce better results: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life” ( Proverbs 11:30 ). Fruit is the direct result of whatever controls our hearts ( Matthew 15:19 ). The fruit of a life not surrendered to Jesus includes “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage,” and many more evil acts ( Galatians 5:19–20 ). In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit of God is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” ( Galatians 5:22–23 ). God the Father is the gardener and He desires for us to be fruitful. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in yo...

Fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23  tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the life of a Christian. The Bible makes it clear that everyone receives the Holy Spirit the moment he or she believes in Jesus Christ. One of the primary purposes of the Holy Spirit coming into a Christian's life is to change that life. It is the Holy Spirit's job to conform us to the image of Christ, making us more like Him. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is in direct contrast with the acts of the sinful nature in  Galatians 5:19-21 , “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that tho...

Say Good-bye to Esther Trust reverses the detours of adversity into the highways of destiny. The story of Esther ends right where it started, but completely reversed. We have the same King and the same City that we started with, but Vashti is no longer queen. Instead, a young Jewish girl,  Esther  is Queen. The proud Haman is no more and his plan to annihilate the Jews led to his own destruction. Loyal Mordecai was raised up to replace Haman; bringing peace and prosperity to the Persian empire. So who are you, Haman or Mordecai and  Esther ? None of us want to be a Haman, but sometimes we act like him. Sometimes we’re self-centered, bubbling with pride and arrogance. But as we have seen, pride comes before destruction. We don’t want to be like that. We want to be like  Esther  and Mordecai. They simply did what was right. Most importantly, they were obedient to God! And God, in His own way, raised them up to positions of honor and promine...

Lessons from the Book of Esther The book of Esther may not have God’s name stated directly, but His involvement is felt in many ways throughout the story, especially when Esther implored the people to seek help through fasting ( 4:15-16 ). Students of the Bible know that  fasting  was done to draw closer to God and was accompanied by heartfelt prayers ( Daniel 9:3 ;  Acts 14:23 ). Esther is clearly a story of God’s intervention and deliverance. Esther is also an inspiring story about a remarkable woman who was willing to risk her life to save her people. She was a woman of principle who was willing to put the lives of others ahead of even her own life. She was an outstanding example of serving others even under the most stressful circumstances. Jesus Christ said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” ( John 15:13 ). Most of the time our lives may be pretty routine, but all of us have a few defining mome...

Purim Established Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar. (Esther 9:20-21 NIV) It’s a Party Who doesn’t love a good party? In Chapter 9, we join God’s people for a party, a celebration that commemorates God’s salvation of the Jews from evil Haman. Named Purim, it still continues today as one of the most joyous and festive celebrations on the Jewish calendar. The word “purim” means “lots” in Hebrew. The festival derives its name from the lots Haman cast to determine the date he would carry out his evil scheme to massacre the Jews. Mordecai established the festival of Purim to remind God’s people of what took place on those two days — when God turned their sorrow into gladness and their mourning into feasting. The festival ensures that every generation not only recalls the terror, d...

Esther Weekly Reading Week 9 – Chapters 9 & 10 Read Chapter 9 & Chapter 10 Chapter Summary . THE FEAST OF PURIM INSTITUTED When the fateful day arrived, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the Jews gathered together in their respective cities and destroyed their enemies. Even the princes and rulers helped the Jews. The dreaded day had arrived. The day Haman’s evil edict commanding the destruction of the Jews came into effect. But, by God’s sovereign hand, the day once appointed for their death and destruction became their day of victory and celebration. Although the king could not change Haman’s edict, at the request of Esther and Mordecai, he issued a new one. It neutralized the effect of the original edict by giving the Jews the right to assemble and defend themselves, their families and their property.  The enemies of the Jewish people could not succeed because of a fear of the Jews. There was also a fear of Mordecai a...