By thier fruit you will recognize them.....

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jasonj

Guest
#121
#121
PeterJens said:
One thing that bothers me about fruit is why certain ideas annoy or anger others.

Take the idea Jesus was executed. He obviously was executed on the common means of execution of the day crucifixtion.

Now this is a valid conclusion. There are others, Jesus gave up His life as a sacrifice for all, which is also true.

Now the fruit of an inflexible mind, getting angry at people if they do not conform to ones own views, is the fruit of a lack of acceptance and grace. I spoke to my cousin who follows an indian guru, and he wanted to convince me this guru was an incarnation of Jesus. I found his insistence interesting, not because it was true, but because he wanted it so badly to be real. I just wanted to understand him, because without an empathetic connection, just stating my faith carried no weight.

He did though acknowledge being christian was a Godly walk. I never got much further with him, but there was no point getting upset, he was convinced what he was saying made sense.
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I can relate to much of what you said here, and have a similar experience with a few different people. your first sentence I can understand perfectly. I think at least part of the reason it angers some is because they are made aware what the truth is, and then in themselves they do not recognize what the truth says. Kind of like how the word hates Gods word, because it testifies that what they do is evil. some love the darkness, and the light shines and exposes what is truly in them, though they believe themselves to be light, the true light exposes them as shadow. at this point, I see differing reactions, flip off the light and remain in the darkness to be comfortable in the darkness we love. or stand in the Light and acknowledge the truth before god, that the darkness we find is darkness, and remain without condemnation pleading for His work to make what was darkness, light in us..........idk if that is gonna make any sense yo anyone lol sorry my mind is often coming from many angles in my wording so I ramle and sometimes appear as a crazy man in my words... yet I hope that it makes some sense to you my friend
 
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jasonj

Guest
#123
#123
ember said:
yes...reallllllllly important! :eek:
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amen to find and trust His spirit in us is key to many aspects of this journey we take into the glories unknown and ahead even if we toil in the present or the past, that spirit has promised and confirms the glory ahead we will witness and partake in and that is gooooooood
 
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oldethennew

Banned
#125
Feb 28, 2016
11,311
2,972
113
#125
Amen, the only real 'reality' that is important....all else is vanity,..
 
Magenta

Magenta

Senior Member
#128
Jul 3, 2015
58,814
28,217
113
#128
jasonj said:
haha yeah I'm scrambled eggs sometimes :)
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LOL haha no that is not what I meant at all though you can be scrambled eggs if you like :) What I meant more is that I do not always understand everything I read, and sometimes things people say escape me entirely. Much of the time when that happens I do not worry about it, though if I apply myself when it seems important I can usually discern something. I just don't think everything is given to me to understand, so without giving myself too hard a time about it, I may not always try as hard as maybe I should. I do try to be clear in what I say and hope for the same from others even awhile I can acknowledge that we all make mistakes and see through a glass darkly, as Paul said :).
 
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jasonj

Guest
#129
#129
Magenta said:
LOL haha no that is not what I meant at all though you can be scrambled eggs if you like :) What I meant more is that I do not always understand everything I read, and sometimes things people say escape me entirely. Much of the time when that happens I do not worry about it, though if I apply myself when it seems important I can usually discern something. I just don't think everything is given to me to understand, so without giving myself too hard a time about it, I may not always try as hard as maybe I should. I do try to be clear in what I say and hope for the same from others even awhile I can acknowledge that we all make mistakes and see through a glass darkly, as Paul said :).
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amen a lot of wise words in your post here. years ago I had nothing to say, now ive spent some years trying to stop from rambling. I have submitted it to prayer and petition, and have come to the conclusion, whether right or wrong God knows, that He made me the way I am for a reason. sometimes someone might ask me what color is the sky? and my answer is Tuesday lol that's what I meant by scrambled eggs.....I apologize to anyone I have answered in that manner. but by the grace of God, he will either correct or make that more prevelant on me
 
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oldethennew

Banned
#130
Feb 28, 2016
11,311
2,972
113
#130
oldethennew said:
Amen, the only real 'reality' that is important....all else is vanity,..
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jasonj likes this,...
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Amen, Mengenta,

Yeshua's Spirit, His Heart/Word,/Jesus Christ, is the only REALITY that we will ever have to hold on to
and to save and rescue us from the creator-of-lies.....
 
T

thepsalmist

Guest
#131
#131
jasonj said:
wow great addition to the discussion !!! thanks for sharing I hope folks take a look at what you have left here those scriptures and also the thoughts you placed in my view are very rich ! God bless you sis
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I really enjoyed this Magenta- well presented! A pleasure to read~
 
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jasonj

Guest
#132
#132
Willie-T said:
Interestingly, many of the evil fruits can be found in the lives, beliefs, attitudes and actions of law-abiding Christians who strictly follow God's laws, to the exclusion Jesus' love of other Believers who do not keep the same rituals.

"My way, or the highway!" isn't exactly Jesus' way.
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that is a very insightful post willie, focusing on, trusting in laws hardens our hearts and damages our receptiveness to Gods Love. the thing to me is if we are focused on Jesus and his teachings, not by letter, but by lesson...obedience becomes natural through that faith in Him. the value of the instructions to the church in scripture, I feel is for the ones who are pressing forward being completely honest with themselves acknowledging the need for change. self correction in my view is a large part of the purpose of the guidelines we have in scripture, and not so much correcting everyone else. if the truth of scripture is spoken in the proper manner, our hearts will convict of things we are not walking in which we should focus on before presuming to correct others. chrisatians have a way of applying scripture to everyone but themselves.

thanks for this one a very good addition
 
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thepsalmist

Guest
#133
#133
jasonj said:
shouldn't we when we see the "bad fruit" in ourselves, look to make that fruit good ? and not just say well this fruit isn't good in me. we have a goal and each day we advance toward perfecting Love in reverence for Christ and his suffering. complacency and acceptance of bad fruit in ourselves hinders our ability to grow in the good fruits of the spirit. I used to think the same way, now I press on to perfection, that is Christ in me, though I am far from perfect, it is now and remains my own goal, to perfect Love in all its forms.
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Love this post Jason ... thanks for sharing your zeal! :)
 
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un2him

Senior Member
#134
Jan 16, 2016
205
3
18
#134
We are also instructed to hold our thoughts captive in obedience to Christ, this often determines whether the fruit is bitter or sweet.

Think on These Things
8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

The peace of God is precious follow rather along that path.
 
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jasonj

Guest
#136
#136
un2him said:
We are also instructed to hold our thoughts captive in obedience to Christ, this often determines whether the fruit is bitter or sweet.

Think on These Things
8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

The peace of God is precious follow rather along that path.
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I believe your post hear is a real key to all of this, our thoughts lead to actions when we dwell, accept or reject them. I have learned from a time when I was ruled as a slave to sin, that the battle if confronted as soon as the wrong thought comes can be won then and there. what you posted here is very valuable I hope that some people will see and consider it in prayer. Our mind is a huge battleground until we learn to accept what you posted here. focusing on our own thoughts is powerful in regard to the sin we struggle against. and with use this principle as do all things in Him becomes much more natural to us. Good word thanks for taking the time to leave it
 
PeterJens

PeterJens

Banned
#137
Feb 24, 2015
13,204
168
0
#137
un2him said:
We are also instructed to hold our thoughts captive in obedience to Christ, this often determines whether the fruit is bitter or sweet.

Think on These Things
8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

The peace of God is precious follow rather along that path.
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There is a form of counselling which emphasises the fact our brains generate thoughts all the time as part of sub-conscious processes. The thoughts are not our own as such, but what is generated by going through who we are and how we approach things. It is therefore important to recognise the importance of the thought background we have, but not take it seriously. It is our choices in thought life that define us, and which our processes reinforce.

It is why cleansing of the heart is so important, so see things as they really are, and to then approach things from a mature and appropriate point of view.
 
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PeacefulWarrior

Guest
#138
#138
As I have participated in this thread, this song by Jars of Clay has been on my mind:

We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other
We will work side by side
We will work with each other
We will work side by side

And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they'll know we are Christians by our love, our love
By our love...​

Pretty awesome lyrics. I really appreciate the bolded line: "we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride"--what a powerful message of Christians publicly loving fellow Christians!

Here's the Youtube link, if ya wanna hear this version:

[video]youtu.be/xyHvO4xoEh4[/video]
 
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