Exhibit t;he Fruit of the Spirit

 

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Galatians 5:22-23 Easy-to-Read Version

²² But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things.

 

Does one, or should one, strive to exhibit these spiritual fruit?

My wife has acquaintances that call her “friend,” several of them, in fact. I wonder if she attracts them. We have had some of them stay in our home at various times. When they do so, they become highly critical of every thing we do. They complain ceaselessly about having no friends, about the faults of others who have tried to support or help them. They become demanding: the food is tasteless, un-nourishing, not served at the right time, or in the right way. We keep the house too hot in the summer time and too cool in the wintertime. Anything that goes wrong is instantly our fault. We don’t provide transport for them to some entertainment, another “friends” home or meeting place, or some medical service. We don’t have coffee in the house or let them smoke in the house, especially when the weather is inclement. They literally run us to distraction.

I confess that I do not experience love, joy, peace, etc. as I wish I could. My wife is driven into high-blood pressure, depression, but she maintains her spiritual fruit seemingly effortlessly. Seeing her health deteriorating, I eventually put my foot down. I insist the intruder must leave. I actually have forbidden some of these “friends” from returning under any circumstances. On the other hand, she shows only love, patience, kindness, and deep care for these dregs of society.

I have prayed personally for some of these fruits of the Spirit. To no avail. On occasion I have prayed for some of these people, and eventually God has intervened in my life so that they become much more acceptable to me. I don’t know whether they have changed, or the Spirit has actually produced some of His fruit in my life. There is at least patience, kindness, and I sense the peace promised by this verse. I do know that my new attitude is not universal; there still are some ´friends” who rub me the wrong way.

It may be that you want me to pray for the infilling of God’s Spirit in my life that such fruit may become automatic in my life. May this same Spirit give my wife the fortitude and strength to survive their manifestation in her life.

Lord, come quickly and change me and them into beings that your love has formed us to be.

 

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[1] https://www.thinwithin.org/living-the-fruit-of-the-spirit/

 

Africa by Starlight

 

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John 1:5

Good News Translation

⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.

 In 1967 in the heart of Africa, my bus pulled into the tiny hamlet of Nyamuswa. I grabbed my weighty suitcase and a heavy box of books and stepped off onto the dirt road. It was two o’clock a.m. The bus roared off into the night

I stood there. No one was awake at night, and no electricity existed within 25 miles at that hour. No vehicles of any kind were on the road. Nyamuswa was pitch black. There were no phones, not even at home. Cell phones had not been invented. No one knew when I was coming. There was no way I could lug my heavy luggage the three miles to my home at Ikizu on foot. I knew no one in the hamlet. There was no gas station, no café.

Puzzled, I stood there in the night. I hadn’t planned what I would do at this point. Stars were bright in the moonless sky. They made the white-washed walls of the buildings visible, ghostly visible. About four or five low thatched roof buildings down on the right was the maternity clinic that always had several women with complications awaiting their babies. There would be a caretaker there in case an emergency happened at night.

My mind clutched at a faint hope. Maybe I could awaken her and leave my bags there. Of course, men were not welcome there, day or night. Every idiot knew that! I was a foreigner, mzungu. Maybe, just maybe, I could persuade her to let me store my bags there.

I trudged up to the dark, heavy wooden door. “Hodi!” I called loudly. I knocked on the door—no one knocks on a door; they always call “Hodi!”

After repeated calling, a highly suspicious voice replied “Ni nani?” (“Who’s there?”)

“Ni Wilton Clarke kutoka Ikizu!” (“I’m Wilton Clarke from Ikizu.”) With that I had practically exhausted my Swahili. Fortunately, she spoke more English than I did Swahili. After some protracted talking, she understood that I just wanted to leave my bags in her clinic until the next morning. She showed me where to put them, and I left her with a heartfelt “Asante sana!” I would be lying if I said there was not a hint of a worry as to whether I would see them the next morning.

Elsewhere I tell about how the military had been called to Nyamuswa, and they had shot 9 elephants in the Nyamuswa gardens, so wild animals did come into this area every so often. I hadn’t heard any actual reports about animals recently, but I did know that leopards would roam where ever they pleased and that they often killed just for the thrill of killing. Of course, you’ve heard about poisonous snakes and other undesirables. All of these things were in my mind as I started to walk, by starlight, the three miles home.

It was bright enough so I could see where the road surface was. The stars were brilliant. Orion was high in the sky along with its accompanying constellations. The Milky Way was spectacular. So, I really did enjoy the walk. I let myself into the house shortly after three o’clock. Sylvia expressed surprise and joy at seeing me. Later that morning I went back and picked up my bags. They had been moved but were totally unmolested.

Thank You, Lord, for the beauty of a still, dark night with a bit of tension yet filled with Your care.

 

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[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/light-pollution-star-night-sky-england-rural-census-orion-campaign-a8873096.html