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We are benefactors of God’s faithfulness. I’m sure each of you can look back over your life, and think about the many times that God has demonstrated His faithfulness to you. There are probably too many incidents to count! The greatest act of the faithfulness of God was on the cross when a sinless lamb became the sacrifice for the sins of the entire world. What a faithful God! He is completely dependable, unwavering, committed, reliable, steadfast and loyal. What He promises He does deliver! The promise way back in Genesis 3:15 (when God spoke about the seed of a woman bringing deliverance to His people), was faithfully fulfilled in birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.

What I have noticed more than anything while studying Fruitful Living is that for each fruit to operate in my life, a starting point is to actively respond to that attribute of God. I can mirror His faithfulness to me, by remaining faithful to Him. (It works with all the other fruit too!) When we determine to emulate Christ and be faithful, there are three things that are important.

We must:
Stay true to God, stay close, and give Him your full attention and all of your heart
Stay true to others, be a true friend, be reliable, steadfast, and constant.
Stay true to yourself, be authentic, the real deal, totally sincere.

If we want to be called faithful at the end of our life, we must run the race, and finish the course. There may even be some fighting along the way. We do fight the good fight of faith! We recognize that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty through God and can even pull down strongholds. Most importantly we can outlast the devil! We win, he looses! We are more than conquerors. God will always be faithful!

God has been faithful to me,
His goodness and mercies I’ve seen
When hearing well done,
your race has been won,
I’ll know I’ve been faithful
His Word has proved faithful,
How faithful God has been to me

Ps 89:1-3
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”
3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen,
I have sworn to My servant David:

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Have you ever had a friend in your life who was reliable, loyal and steadfast? Were they devoted to you, trustworthy, and unwavering in their love for you? That would be an awesome, faithful friend! (Those really are all attributes of God, and He certainly is the best friend you’ll ever find!) Someone said once that if at the end of your life you have had 5 faithful friends you would have been blessed. People like that can be hard to come by. But that is the kind of friend God wants you to be! God’s seed of faithfulness is already in you. Remember the verse about the potential inside you in 1 Peter 1:23? You have the power within you to become not only a faithful friend, but also have all of the other fruit of the spirit growing in your life. Amazing!

11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

Just think, little ole’ you are going to grow up to be an awesome oak tree. You may feel like an itty-bitty baby acorn now, but just wait! The seed has been planted and has spouted, the roots are going down deep and you are becoming the man/or woman of God that He wants you to be. It definitely is a process, but it is worth the effort and certainly the taste of the fruit will be incredible. You want to have deep roots so you can have lasting fruit! So maybe you know someone who needs a friend. Why not sow a seed of faithful friendship in their life. Maybe you’ll be blessed to be one of their top five! Today I’m encouraging you – to be reliable, loyal, steadfast, trustworthy and totally faithful!

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How about putting some action to our words as we complete this week talking about fruitfulness? If we really want to live fruitfully, actions and words are connected. What we say and what we do, puts our faith into action. James 1:22 tells us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Another way to say that is to be people of action, not just of intention! So how can you put action to the fruit of the Spirit? How about asking God to lead you to someone this week who needs to be loved in a real practical way? Then ask God to show you a way to demonstrate His goodness to this person. Maybe a good place to start is in your own home. Can you show the fruit of gentleness and goodness to your spouse if you are married? To your kids? To your neighbors? To strangers? To your pets? Let’s live fruitfully 24/7. Let’s not act this way to receive anything….let’s just make it a part of who we are. If none of your actions are reciprocated, continue anyway. We don’t act “like God” to get something in return, we act “like God” because we are called to imitate Him as it says in Eph 5:-2, and we are called to be His hands and feet in this world. So speak a kind word. Act gently in situations. Practice goodness. Make everything move you make, every word you say, fruitful for the kingdom of God. Every day is filled with moments that have the power to influence others. Embrace the opportunities you are given to be gentle and good to others. That’s living fruitfully

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Intro: Perhaps you have heard this saying by Charles Spurgeon:
“Do all the good you can
By all the means you can
In all the ways you can
In all the places you can
At all the times you can
To all the people you can
As long as you can

To me, this saying sums up a fruitful life. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your daily eword. On this last section talking about fruitful living, my prayer is that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your life can be productive and fruitful for God. Here is your encouraging word for today.

In concluding this study, it is interesting to me that fruit just grows naturally when all the right elements are in place. When you plant a peach seed, you get years and years of fruit if you nurture the seed, coddle the seedling, prune the young tree, and provide water, and sun. We should be fruitful not only through the years, but also day after day. To get a continual harvest, we have to be continually planting. We are farmers for LIFE! That means that our life is all about daily planting (through words, deeds, finances, etc.). What is so cool about daily planting is that you get to affect everyone who is around you. When fruit is growing, it naturally is shared with others. So your family gets to see your fruit at work. They get to see the best you, and hear your best words, and be recipients of your best behavior. Most the time we do it all backwards. We put our best self out for strangers and let our family have our worst. YIKES! Let’s be our best self always! Not because we’re trying to be good, but because we are letting the goodness of God show in us. It is the goodness of God that draws men to salvation. We can be magnets the lost, to see them come to know Jesus. That is the best kind of fruit we could ever have!

Fruitful living is: Consistent giving, Perpetual planting, Continual reaping, God pleasing, life changing and most of all…..Kingdom expanding!

I encourage you to read Matt 25:14-30 today. Living a fruitful life should be more natural and effortless than you can imagine. Living fruitfully shouldn’t be a strain! It should be a natural outflow of Christ in us, as familiar to us as taking our next breath. Keep breathing! And keep being fruitful!

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Kindness and gentleness are two very important fruit that should be developing in our life. I hope you think proactively about being kind all the time. Kindness seeds produce! To make it really practical, here are some simple ideas, or ways for you to start showing kindness to those around you!
Take every opportunity to make smile at people
Remember the elderly, the mentally or physically challenged that have additional
obstacles in life….try to help make life easier for them through kindness
Let others in line ahead of you
Be kind in traffic!
Give compliments!
Hold the door for others, especially new moms and the elderly.
Pay for someone’s meal or drink in the coffee line or fast food restaurant
Tip well
Call, text or email people in your world who might need encouragement.
Never underestimate how much impact kind words can have on someone’s life.
Always be looking for ways to affirm and value those around you. It is all too easy to do the opposite. We look for things that are negative naturally. We have to train ourselves to look for the positive and to use our words to say the kind thing instead of what might have come to mind initially. Proverbs 18:20-22 says this:
A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth;
From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.
21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
22
He who finds a wife finds a good thing,
And obtains favor from the Lord.
There is the power of life and death in what we speak, and kind words in any situation, have the power to change situations for the better. And all you husbands out there, you find favor with God when you find a wife! You blessed man!

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Sleepy people do crazy things. They drive off the road, or they forget important things. So get enough sleep and take advantage of all the sleep you can get! When we get older we have lots of reasons to stay up later, and most of them are doing stuff that isn’t all fun, like catching up on laundry, doing dishes, or paying bills. Peaceful sleep is really hard for some people. They can’t shut their minds off, or their body clock is messed up and they will just lie in bed for hours, looking at the ceiling. Sometimes it is because they are worried or anxious about something. Sometimes there is no explanation. My prayer is that you get in the habit of making restful sleep an important part of your life. Make your bedroom a peaceful organized place to be. Make it a habit to read your Bible and pray before you snuggle down underneath the covers. Talk to God, cast your cares on Him (I Peter 5:7), let peace rule in your heart (Col 3:15) and learn to sleep in heavenly peace. One thing that I have determined to do each time I might wake up in the middle of the night is to pray. I figure that I can always make the best use of my idle time, by just talking to God. There is nothing more peaceful than that

I prayed this over my children every night when they were young.  In the Name of Jesus, thank you for the peace of God over my child. My children are taught of the Lord, with great peace and undisturbed composure, with teeth that are like sheep coming up from the washing, perfectly matched and not one missing, and bodies that are healthy and strong from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet.  Then I always say, schlaf im himmlisher ruhe, which means sleep in heavenly peace!  In Jesus Name, AMEN!

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As we close up this week of looking at fruitful living with peace and patience, let me give you an illustration about patience as taking a long time to boil. When it comes to a boiling pot of water, oatmeal or whatever, what factor determines the speed at which it boils? It is not the stove, and not the pot, or even the ingredients in the pot, but it is the intensity of the flame. The pot boils over when the flame is high, and it doesn’t boil over when the flame is low. That’s not a heavy revelation, but it does get a point across! A patient person keeps the burner down, they keeps the flame low. They wait. They listen. God treats us with patience, and that is how we should treat others. If we really want to be fruitful in live and learn to operate in peace and patience, we need to keep the flame low. We must learn to respond patiently. Hebrews 10:36 reminds us that if we want to receive the promise, we must live patiently. Here are verses 34-36. For you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.[e] 35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
We can run this race with patience, just like Jesus did. We can lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily throws us off course, and run with patience, as we look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Now that’s fruitful living!

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Busy, busy, busy, working everyday, take a moment now and then to simply rest or play
The world will keep on spinning, it’s time you start beginning
To quiet down and still your hands, a restful life is God’s best plan
So take a breath, and breathe in deep, have peaceful days, and restful sleep
With peace that passes all we know, God’s rest is yours – just let stress go.

Are you facing huge stress or conflict? My prayer is that you will know God’s peace. The word peace comes from the Greek work “eirene”, which is the Hebrew equivalent for shalom, which expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, tranquility in the soul, that is unaffected by outward circumstances or pressures. My favorite definition of shalom is nothing missing, and nothing broken. What is very true of a shalom filled, peaceful person is that even through difficulties and pressure of life try to break them, they are possessed “with peace that makes them whole, complete, orderly, stable and poised for blessing.” Is that who you are? Let God’s peace rule in your heart, and live at peace even in the midst of a world filled with pressures. Phil 4:7 tells us that the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. That’s living fruitfully!

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19 Wednesday Peace and Rest Hebrew 4:9-13
Peace is the result of resting in God. Rest is what restores our physical bodies, and peace is what restores our spirits. Rest and peace are often foreign to us in our busy lives. Busy is what we’re all too good at. Rest is what we need to be good at! My good friend once said, Busy isn’t of the devil, it is the devil! Often when I ask someone how they are, their answer is “busy”. Wouldn’t it be great to answer that question with – peaceful, tranquil, and totally rested. For believers, we should live there! Life shouldn’t be a busy irritation, it should be peaceful, rest-filled, and restoring to our souls.

Hebrews 4:9-13 says this: There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
How do we get to the rest that God provides in the midst of the daily hassles we must deal with? Peace comes when we choose love over hate, joy over frustration, patience over irritability, kindness over meanness, goodness over revenge, faithfulness over manipulation, gentleness over harshness, and self-control over indulgence. Peace and rest is the result! Peace is what we want in our homes, for our communities, for our nation and for the world. It can start with your response the next time you have the opportunity to operate in the fruit or in the flesh! Choose fruit over flesh!

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Is there anything more wonderful than a peaceful environment, completely void of irritation and stress? For me that could be a beautiful sunset on a beach, or a lovely hike (or horse ride) in the mountains next to a gurgling brook surrounded by flower covered valleys. That seems like tranquility, peace and rest at its best. It could also mean just a restful afternoon at my own house, some classical or worship music, a great book, a warm fire, and a tasty cup of peppermint tea lightly sweetened with honey in total tranquility.

In John 14:27, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” He was speaking of the Holy Spirit who was soon to come. He sent the Holy Spirit as the comforter so we could have peace even in the midst of stress, strain, irritation or uncertainty. In the world you shall have tribulation (we live in a fallen world where there will be persecution), but be of Good Cheer, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
Can you be fruitful even in with uncertainty in your future? We must let the peace of God reign in us. We can allow the peace of God to live in our hearts. Remember this that peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God, no matter what the conflict.

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