Rotten fruit

   Since God started this ministry with  a picture of bars that were shadows and hidden in inmate's lives, I knew at some point we would get down to the 'nitty gritty' of dealing with these hidden issues and exposing them for what they are.

 But I didn't know how to approach it. Should I randomly grab a good concordance and look up the word "addiction" or "anger"? Should I get one of my counseling resources and just start with the table of contents, maybe? I prayed and I knew that to expose these bars it was going to take a move of the Spirit in their lives. So what happens in our lives when the Holy Spirit moves? Well many things happen, but specifically, there is fruit.

   The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith fullness, Gentleness, and Self-control. When the Holy Spirit reigns in your life He produces these fruits. So what if He is not reigning? What if that area of your life that needs Joy or Gentleness is not touched by the Holy Spirit? What would that look like? What fruit would be there?

   I prayed and what the Holy Spirit gave me was a little different than what I expected. I am sure some of these you know the opposite to, but the opposite of some of these fruits might be different than you would imagine. As I understand it, here is a list of the fruit of the Spirit, and the opposite of that Holy Spirit produced fruit;

1. love - fear
2. joy - despair, doubt
3. peace - discontentment, restlessness
4. patience - selfishness
5. kindness - greed
6. goodness - to be unfair
7. faithfulness - addictions
8. gentleness - being egotistical
9. self control - controlled by others, peer pressure

   But throwing out the "rotten fruit" wont fix all of the issues. By us knowing what bad fruit we eat on a daily basis, and getting that bad taste out of our mouths through fellowship with God, He gives us an appetite for Him and nourishes the growth of good fruit in our hearts.

   If you pray for this ministry pray that these areas will be exposed in inmate's lives through the truth of Jesus Christ. And maybe if you are reading this and you see bad fruit in your own life I encourage you to stop what you are doing and ask God to show you how it got there. Perhaps through unforgiveness, maybe you believed a lie about yourself, or maybe you made a choice to agree with someone else's opinion of who you are. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how this lie about your identity came in, and then wait for an answer. Your answer might come through an audible voice, a picture, a song, a memory, or an impression, but however revelation comes there will be peace. Take action after that through repentance, prayer, confession, etc. and trust God to grow new fruit in your life.

   God bless