{"id":123,"date":"2012-10-23T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/10\/peace-is-a-fruit\/"},"modified":"2012-10-23T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T06:00:01","slug":"peace-is-a-fruit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/10\/peace-is-a-fruit\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace is a Fruit"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Weekly Overview:<\/h2>\n<p>One of the most powerful marks of a believer is transcendent peace. This world offers us no reason to be peaceful. It offers us no reason to be without stress, burdens, cares, and total frustration. But we serve a God who offers us peace in the midst of any circumstance. We serve a God in whom all true peace finds its source. May you discover the heart of your heavenly Father to bring you peace this week.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Scripture:<\/h2>\n<p><em>\u201cBut the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.&#8221;<\/em> Galatians 5:22-23<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"worship\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Worship:<\/h2>\n<h3>Spirit Break Out by Bethel Music featuring Kim Walker-Smith<\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; margin: auto auto 30px auto; width: 100%; float:left;\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: block; margin: auto; float: left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #484846; padding: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5_TOOXRpn8w?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Devotional:<\/h2>\n<p>Living with true peace can only be done by allowing the Holy Spirit to bear the fruit of his presence in our lives. Galatians 5:23-23 says, <em>\u201cBut the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.&#8221;<\/em> How incredible is it that we can have peace in this world through relationship with the Holy Spirit! The fact that true peace is solely a fruit of the Spirit takes the weight of peace off our shoulders.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s impossible to bear the fruit of peace apart from connectivity to God. It\u2019s impossible to force peace in our lives because it\u2019s impossible for us to bear fruit in our own strength. John 15:4 says, <em>\u201cAbide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.&#8221;<\/em> Peace is the fruit of abiding in the Holy Spirit. It\u2019s the fruit of surrendering our perspectives, relationships, words, actions, thoughts, and emotions to him.<\/p>\n<p>If we are living without peace, it is because we have yet to allow the Holy Spirit to fill an area of our life with his presence. If our thoughts aren\u2019t marked by the peace of God\u2019s truth, it\u2019s because we have yet to allow the Spirit to renew our minds with the Scripture he authored. If we\u2019re without peace in our relationships, it\u2019s because we haven\u2019t allowed him to reveal to us his heart for ourselves or others. If the opinion of man continually robs us of peace, it\u2019s because we haven\u2019t centered our lives around his opinion of us. The list continues but the point remains the same. To live with peace is to allow the Spirit to permeate every area of life with his powerful, loving, and transformative presence.<\/p>\n<p>Romans 14:17 says, <em>\u201cFor the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.&#8221;<\/em> May you choose to seek the kingdom of God above all else today. May you allow the Holy Spirit to bring heaven to earth, not only in your life but everywhere you go today. Seek a greater measure of communion with the Holy Spirit today and enjoy the fruit of peace that comes from his nearness.<\/p>\n<h2>Guided Prayer:<\/h2>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\n<p><strong>1. Meditate on the nature of peace as a fruit of the Holy Spirit.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cBut the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.&#8221;<\/em> Galatians 5:22<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Where is your life not marked by the fruit of the Spirit?<\/strong> Where is your life not filled with the peace of his presence?<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into a deeper level of communion with him today.<\/strong> Take time to receive an awareness of his nearness.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAnd do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.&#8221;<\/em> Ephesians 5:18<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cYou, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.&#8221;<\/em> Romans 8:9<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>Growing in relationship with the Holy Spirit is like growing in relationship with anyone else. He is a person of the Trinity just like the Father and Jesus. It takes time to get to know someone. It takes effort to learn their wants, desires, and personality. If you pursue a deeper connection with the Spirit you will find it. May you grow in your awareness of your union with the Holy Spirit who dwells within you.<\/div>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<strong>Extended Reading:<\/strong> <a title=\"Romans 8\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Romans+8&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Romans 8<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weekly Overview: One of the most powerful marks of a believer is transcendent peace. This world offers us no reason to be peaceful. It offers us no reason to be without stress, burdens, cares, and total frustration. But we serve a God who offers us peace in the midst of any circumstance. We serve a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":636,"featured_media":126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first15"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Peace is a Fruit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Weekly Overview: One of the most powerful marks of a believer is transcendent peace. This world offers us no reason to be peaceful. It offers us no reason to be without stress, burdens, cares, and total frustration. But we serve a God who offers us peace in the midst of any circumstance. We serve a&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/10\/peace-is-a-fruit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peace is a Fruit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Weekly Overview: One of the most powerful marks of a believer is transcendent peace. This world offers us no reason to be peaceful. It offers us no reason to be without stress, burdens, cares, and total frustration. But we serve a God who offers us peace in the midst of any circumstance. 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