John 15:1

1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
 Jesus is the vine, He is our source.
 Before we can bear fruit we need to understand where our source is.
 He is the true vine.
 Any other source is not true and has no everlasting power. It is an imitation and counterfeit. Worldly Knowledge, Careers, Physical Appearances, Drugs and Alcohol, Relationships…
 We are the branches
 A branch has no life by itself.
 The branches are many, growing all over the place but all connected to the same vine.
 He is the center of our unity.
 Though the Earth is the Lord’s, it bears no fruit unless He works it.
 God not only has the propriety but also the care of the vine and branches.
 His eye is upon every branch.
 He watches over them that nothing will harm them.
 He prunes them.
 Never was a vinedresser so watchful of His field as the Lord does the church.
 This is why we must prosper.

Make sure you Abide in Christ!!!

"The Fruit of the Holy Spirit"

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit is a biblical term that sums up the nine visible attributes of a true Christian life, according to Paul's Letter to the Galatians chapter:5. Though there are nine attributes to the Fruit of the Spirit, the original Greek term translated as "Fruit" is singular, signifying that there is one Fruit, with nine parts.

Throughout the Bible, righteous men are likened to trees,[3][4] and Paul in Galatians 5 explains what fruit a righteous tree bears. Accordingly, this fruit is grown by those who have truly repented, or are truly followers of Jesus.[5] It is arguable that if one does not bear this fruit, one is not truly a Christian. In John's account of the Gospel Jesus said, "These things I command you, that you love one another"[6] referred to as the New Commandment or the second greatest commandment. Paul illustrates with these attributes the kind of love that marks a true Christian life:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

— Galatians 5:22-23

The Apostle Paul’s Prayer in Colossians

The following prayer is from Colossians 1:9-12, it has been changed into the first person, to personalize it for your needs.
Pray it for yourself, your loved ones and those in authority over you, either at work or our government officials and you will see the power of God change your life.
Father God, I do not cease to pray , and to ask that I may be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that I may have a walk worthy of You, Lord, fully pleasing You, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You, Father God; that I may be strengthened with all might, according to Your glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to You, Father, who has qualified Me to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in the light. You have delivered me from the power of darkness and translated me into the kingdom of the Son of Your love, in whom I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. I thank you for my redemption and my new relationship with you.
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen.

Genesis 25-27

***I found this today and thought it would be interesting to see what others thought on the matter. Please feel free to leave your comments below***

      And the rivalries begins since the time of conceived within the womb. You can just imagine all the fights they must have had. As Jacob was being born, he was holding onto the ankle of Esau. This was the fight for the first born already. Since the time of birth we see how badly Jacob wanted that birth right.  But, if we waited silently and strategically then he got it for a bowl of lentil stew.

If we look, at the small amount of information that the bible has to give us about their younger years, we see that Esau was focused on the now; on the present whereas Jacob was looking forward to the future and planning ahead.

     I've read way too many posts, and things, on how the stealing of the final blessing was all Jacobs fault and all his idea. Well no, it wasn't just Jacob. If you look at it, Jacob did nothing wrong then. Rebekah his mother told him to go and get some goat. It was his mother’s idea form over hearing the conversation of Isaac and Esau. It was Rebekah's fault.

Now, some people might say that Jacob could have stood up for himself and said no. Which is a very good point, but we have to also acknowledge that Jacob was being a good kid, and listening to his mother. He was doing the right thing at the time. As so he thought.

The verse that stuck out to me the most was from Chapter 25 and Verse 23

" The Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two people from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.' "

Final Thought: Was Esau acting righteously of holding a grudge, for his brother did steal the birth right and Final blessing? Or was it all wrong, and he sinned just like the rest of us when we hold a grudge?

Source: Pray to God Today

The Choice is Yours!

Sometimes that choice gets tough, but God has promised it will never get too tough. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, He says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able." What the Lord is saying is that He will not allow you to be subjected to a temptation you're unable to overcome. With every temptation, He'll make a way of escape. He'll ALWAYS make sure you have a choice.


The devil doesn't come tempt you while God is off somewhere else, unaware of what is happening to you. The Spirit of God is constantly there with you, providing you with the way to overcome. In other words, God matches even the toughest temptations with the weapons and power you need to conquer them. He always makes it possible for you to choose life.

So choose to walk in love. Choose to walk by faith. Choose to live by the Word. Jesus is the Way! Choose Him!

Source: "Kennethe Copeland"

Leave the Past Behind!

Failures and disappointments. Aches and pains from the past that just won't seem to go away. Most of us know what it's like to suffer from them but too few of us know just what to do about them. So we limp along, hoping somehow they'll magically stop hurting.


But it never happens that way. In fact, the passing of time often leaves us in worse condition--not better. Because, instead of putting those painful failures behind us, we often dwell on them until they become more real to us than the promises of God. We focus on them until we become bogged down in depression, frozen in our tracks by the fear that if we go on, we'll only fail again.

If depression has driven you into a spiritual nosedive, break out of it by getting your eyes off the past and onto your future--a future that's been guaranteed by Christ Jesus through the great and precious promises in His Word.


Forget about those failures in the past! That's what God has done (Heb. 8:12). And if He doesn't remember them any more, why should you? The Bible says God's mercies are new every morning. So if you'll take God at His Word, you can wake up every morning to a brand-new world. You can live life totally unhindered by the past.


So, do it! Replace thoughts of yesterday's mistakes with scriptural promises about your future. Pretty soon, instead of looking behind you and saying, "I can't," look ahead and say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

Source: "Kenneth Copeland"

Trust

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

I just came across this story through email and thought it significantly appropriate for us today. Maybe it is for you too?

An African king had a long time friend who always looked at everything positively, always saying "This is good!" even in the face of the most difficult situations. Hunting one day, he was preparing the king’s guns. When the king took his first shot, his thumb was blown off. Though the friend realized that it was his grave mistake for not properly setting the gun, and even in the face of this furious, bleeding king, he looked at him and said, "This is good!" The king was LIVID, and ordered that his friend be thrown in jail immediately.

A year later the king was hunting in an area where he should have stayed clear and was suddenly captured by Cannibals. They tied him up and were preparing to cook him when they realized he had no thumb. They didn't eat anyone who was less than whole so they released him. Upon his way home, the king pondered the event that had taken his thumb in the first place. He went straight to the jail, told his friend what happened and apologized in tears for sending him to jail like he did. His enthusiastic friend looked at the King and replied "This is good!"

The king, taken aback once again said "What do you mean 'this is good!' I sent you mercilessly to jail and you’ve been suffering for here for an entire year – how is that good?" His friend responded unwaveringly, "Well, if I had not been in jail, I would have been with you"!

We hope this has encouraged you to trust in your difficult situation. Let’s leave it in the Lord's hands today, and all say it together in faith…. “This is good”! 

Grace: A Many Splendored Thing

We use grace to describe many things in life:

A well-coordinated athlete or dancer
Good manners and being considerate of others
Beautiful, well-chosen words
Consideration and care for other people
Various expressions of kindness and mercy

Those statements remind me of Christ. What a perfect illustration of grace! Think of several examples with me. He stood alongside a woman caught in adultery. The Law clearly stated, "Stone her." The grace killers who set her up demanded the same. Yet He said to those self-righteous Pharisees, "He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone." What grace! Under the Law they had every legal right to bury her beneath the rocks in their hands . . . and they were ready. There they stood with self-righteous fire in their eyes, but He intervened in grace.

When His friend Lazarus died, Martha met Him on the road and Mary later faced Him in the house. Both blamed Him for not coming earlier: "If You had been here, my brother would not have died!" There is strong accusation in those words. He took them in grace. With the turn of His hand, He could have sent them to eternity; but He refused to answer them back in argument. That is grace.

When He told stories, grace was a favorite theme. He employed a gracious style in handling children. He spoke of the prodigal son in grace. As He told stories of people who were caught in helpless situations, grace abounded . . . as with the good Samaritan. And instead of extolling the religious official who spoke of how proud God must be to have him in His family, Christ smiled with favor on the unnamed sinner who said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Even from the cross He refused to be angry toward His enemies. Remember His prayer? "Father, forgive them . . . " No resentment, no bitterness. Amazing, this grace! Remarkable, the freedom and release it brought. And it came in full force from the only One on earth who had unlimited power, the Son of God

Source: Charles Swindoll