She Reads Truth : Fruit of the Spirit Study
This is such a timely topic for me today.
More on that later.
I have lots of notes today, and since I don’t have time (I have a morning meeting) to write them all, I thought I’d at least post my Doodle from my morning quiet time.
TALK SOON!
So…..Day 11 continued!
I apologize for the late addition to this post. I have been busy planning our Annual Women’s Conference and traveling.
This day was a BIG journaling/ study day for me, and I knew it would take time to type out all God has deposited in my heart.
Our church body participates in an annual fast this time of year. Fasting is a spiritual discipline and can look different for each individual.
If you’re interested, there is a nice article on fasting at CRU.ORG (The 7 basic steps to fasting)
So, for me…fasting of any kind requires a HUGE amount of self-discipline. ..and not something I can easily muster up myself! I have a little wee passion for food. I love to cook, I love to eat:) Loving others through food is something I learned from my Mom. She always served “more than enough.”
Anyone who knows me, knows that I tend to cook for large crowds, regardless of the crowd😜 I learned this from Mom…no one goes without.
Now that it’s just my husband and I, unless my youngest is home from college, cooking large amounts = wasting food. I’m trying to learn to adjust, but for now it seems, I’m becoming a food drop off center.
ANYWAY…back to the study.
When I mentioned in the first half of the post that this day was especially personal, I was regarding my journey with fasting.
When fasting, I experience a freedom from the chains of reaching for food for comfort, reward, and relief from anxiety.
When food is out of the picture I go stratight to the real source of comfort, reward, relief…instead of settling with an imposter who never meets my expectations.
For me, fasting is many things, but in regards to the Fruit of Self- Control it is a “resetter.” A physical way to refocus my mind and my heart with a heavy reliance on the Holy Spirit.
Food can be a source of sin in my life. Glutany, over spending, idol worship. So this exercise of obedience through fasting, frees me from these chains and enables me to receive from the Lord without distraction.
When I replace the power of the Holy Spirit with my own “form of self made fruit/power, my city has no walls!
Without righteous (from the Lord) self-control, my heart is wide open to attack. I cannot muster enough on my own. Can you? Who has a pint of Graeter’s Raspberry Chip in their freezer calling????? Or a pic that just needs posting, or a comment that needs to be made, or a you fill in the blank…regardless of who it hurts…including yourself.
I love how Debbie Eaton states it:
“Self- Control is a Fruit of the Spirit, not a fruit of our determination.
“The Holy Spirit in us is not subject to our desires, but rather He conforms our desires to Christ’s Will.”
“Apart from me you can do nothing.” -John 15:5
“Self- Control comes when I relinquish ultimate control to Jesus.”
period.
We think Self-Control is a “bad word” that robs us of all our fun.
When practiced, it provides the opposite…BLESSING that brings pure JOY.,.better than any fun we can think of:)
Here are my pages for this day.
Blessings,
sue
1Arthouse 