Scripture tells us that the “Fruit of the Spirit” is an essential part of our Christian growth and that it has the following attributes: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In this post, Richard shares with us what the Fruit of the Spirit is and how to see it in our daily lives as we walk with Christ.

Peace and patience are both the by-products of our relationship with God. We receive joy and love from God, which produces peace and patience. Patience flows from Christ into us, and shows tolerance and fortitude toward others, even accepting difficult situations. Patience gives us power to allow for the faults of others without being judgmental or making demands.

The world is a noisy place. It’s easy to get distracted by the urgency of our lives, depressed about the state of our careers or overly focused on how we can fix our own problems. Today, we’re rounding up posts that bring peace, hope and order to an often chaotic life. How can you reclaim your time today? What is the thing that you need to release into God’s hands?

Shalom, which means peace, is a powerful conviction, motivation and blessing. It reveals to us how the world should be, and how God intends us to live in it. In these names of God, we are reminded that Jesus: the God of my Life, God of my Strength, and the LORD our Peace, is residing in us now. Let’s show him to a world that desperately needs his Shalom.

“I with a voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” Jonah 2:9, ESV Jonah is not worshiping God because of where he was right then, but because of where he had come from. He vowed loyalty to God, not because of what he wanted God to do, but because of what God has already done. Jonah did not thank God because he was in the belly of a fish, but because he was saved from drowning.

My husband Jeff is in Africa right now. I miss him, and I miss the little things like going downstairs early in the morning and seeing that he’s already made a pot of coffee or cooking dinner and hearing the garage door open (ours is quite loud) and realizing he’s home early. But for now I’ll have to do with phone calls and email since he’s so far away, and since we haven’t learned how to use Skype yet.

Clearly life looks different when someone you love isn’t around. It’s better when they are near. That word, near, stood out to me the other day when I read this passage in Philippians.

The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer [...]