Fruit of the Spirit - Part 4

While I'm taking my annual summer break from writing new devotions, I'm sharing this series on the fruit of the Spirit, which was originally published in 2016.

Devotion for the Week...

It's time for the fourth installment of our fruit of the Spirit devotion series! If you missed the previous devotions, click to read the introduction, about love and about joy.

Once again, here is our verse for this devotion series: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22,23).

As you can see in our verse, this week we're talking about peace. There are a lot of different types of peace that we could consider - peace in the world, peace in our families and peace with God - but as I thought about this week's devotion I kept thinking of peace within ourselves. I'm thinking about the kind of peace that comes when our minds are settled and relaxed, when we're not worrying over this, that or a million other things.

We all worry. Some of us more than others, but we all do it at least some of the time. According to the Google dictionary, worry means "give way to anxiety or unease; allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles." Worrying means you just kind of camp your mind in your problems (real or potential) and stay there. The problem with worrying, of course, is that it really doesn't accomplish anything. It doesn't change our circumstances or prevent future trouble from finding us or provide us with something we're lacking. It only drains the energy out of today.

Jesus asked, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" (Luke 12:25,26). I've always loved that first question because it points out the utter pointlessness of worrying. No matter how much we worry, we can't change a thing about our lives.

In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us again not to worry. Specifically, He tells us not to worry about our lives, about what we will eat or drink, about our bodies and about what we will wear (v. 25). Verse 32 says, "For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them" and that, right there, is the reason we don't need to waste our time worrying. God knows about the things we need. 

The antidote to worrying, as Jesus presents it? "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (v. 33). Seeking his kingdom and his righteousness, to me, means trying to serve God to the best of our ability and if our minds are focused on that, then there's not much room for worrying.

Focusing on serving God reminds us that while our worrying can't change one single thing about our lives, God can. Remember when Jesus asked if we could add an hour to our lives by worrying? He referred to that as doing a 'very little thing'! Doesn't that just shout about the power of God? It is a simple thing for Him to extend a person's life. He did it for King Hezekiah, in 2 Kings 6, adding 15 years to the king's life.

If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives, that means we will need to pay attention to the Spirit and sometimes that's going to mean turning off the constant worrying in our minds and choosing instead to focus on God, to walk beside His Spirit, so to speak. When we do that, we remember the power of God (for whom nothing is impossible!), which calms the turmoil and pointless anxiety that could otherwise grip our lives. 

And that brings peace! Isaiah wrote, "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you" (Isaiah 26:3). Perfect peace. That's certainly fruit worth growing!

Take a Hike - Quilt Block Mania

The theme for this month's Quilt Block Mania is 'travel' - something I know people are anxious to do now that restrictions are opening up again. Even in normal times, most of our travel is within our own province, and it usually involves hiking along the coast. In fact, Paul and I are leaving on Thursday for a week away and we're planning to do a fair bit of hiking while we're gone (assuming the weather cooperates), so I chose to create a hiking trail along the ocean for my block 😊 Here is my Take a Hike block.

To make your own Take a Hike block, enter your email address here to get the free pattern. Doing so will also subscribe you to The Bulletin. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

This is a quick block, since it's all applique. I started with a beautiful blue from Island Batik, then added the green for the hill. And yes, I did press that green, but those wrinkles were stubborn and refused to be pressed out! 

Then it was time for the brown for the trail and the grey to give the hill some dimension. I chose to just use a glue stick for my appliques, but you could certainly use fusible web, if you prefer.

I chose to do a quick zig zag stitch around the appliques in matching Aurifil 50 wt thread. Then I decided to add some white zig zags along the edge of the water to represent the waves pounding against the base of the hill. I went back and forth over those stitches a few times to make them a little thicker and just scattered them randomly on the shore.

This block is very forgiving, since it doesn't matter if you wobble a bit in your cutting or your stitching. Who says your hill and trail have to look just like mine??? I also think the block would look great with some embroidered flowers on the hill. You could also choose to leave off the grey piece and just have a very modern looking block. A whole quilt of those would look fantastic, I think!

To make your own Take the Hike block, enter your email address in the form up above. I hope you'll tag me if you share your block on social media!

As always, there are a bunch of fun, travel themed blocks from my fellow Quilt Block Mania designers, so hop around and collect them all 😊

Bridge Quilt block by Carolina Moore
Lucky is on the road again at Puppy Girl Designs
Scenic Route by Slice of Pi Quilts
Travel to the Woods by Oh Kaye Quilting
Embark by Inquiring Quilter
Delectable Mountains at PhoebeMoon Designs
Treasure Chest Star by Blue Bear Quilts
Wanderlust by Heidi Pridemore
On the Water by Patti's Patchwork
Come Sail Away by Mom and Me Quilting Co.
Wish You Were Here at Pretty Piney Quilts
Pack It Up by QuiltFabrication
Me and Bobby McGee at Orange Blossom Quilt Design Studio
Wild Blue Yonder at Perkins Dry Goods
Take a Hike by Devoted Quilter
Into the Blue at Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
T-Shirt Fun at The Quilting Room with Mel
Stitch and Flip Mountain Block

The Fruit of the Spirit - Part 3

While I'm taking my annual summer break from writing new devotions, I'm sharing this series on the fruit of the Spirit, which was originally published in 2016.

Devotion for the Week...

It's time for the third installment of our fruit of the Spirit devotion series! If you missed the previous devotions, click to read the introduction and about love.

Today we will look at joy, but first, I want to tell you that I've put off doing a series on the fruit of the Spirit for months because I wasn't quite sure how to write about joy. Not because I don't think Christians should have joy, or because I don't have joy, or because I don't like joy 😊 No, it was simply a matter of knowing that there are people in the church who suffer from depression and who are sometimes made to feel that they would recover if only they were properly "spiritual." A wonderful speaker named Joanne Goodwin came to our church about a year ago and she talked about when she first started sharing her stories of depression and living with bipolar disorder. She said that there were people who told her she just needed to trust in the Lord for healing...all the while wearing eyeglasses to correct their faulty vision! 

I am in no way an expert or a doctor, but it is my understanding that depression is an illness like any other, both beyond the control of the person suffering and able to be treated with medication. I do believe it is possible for God to heal a person with depression, just as He can heal a person with diabetes or cancer or bad eyesight, but the truth is that He often allows us to walk through these things rather than healing us, and walking through something may mean needing medication. So, please, if you think you need help, talk to your doctor!

Having cleared that up, here is our verse for this series of devotions, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23). Remember I said before that this is not a collection of 9 different fruit that can be produced in a believer's life, but rather one fruit with 9 sides. The Holy Spirit can cause all 9 to grow together in a believer's life if we are willing to listen and obey as the Spirit prompts us to change our behavior.

Aside from the fruit of the Spirit verse in Galatians, the first verse to come to mind when I think about joy seems like a rather odd verse. James wrote, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds" (James 1:2). Now, I don't know about you, but I generally don't find that trials of any kind make me joyful! They tend to make me annoyed or sad or angry or scared, depending on what kind of trial we're talking about. There's not much joy in any of that, is there? Thankfully, James explains why we should consider trials to be 'pure joy': "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (vv. 2-4). 

In our humanity, what do we usually do when faced with things that aren't going our way? We complain, don't we? We complain and we grumble. Sometimes only a little and sometimes a lot. Sometimes out loud and sometimes only in our own thoughts. Either way, we are focusing on the negative, which is guaranteed to be a joy-stealer. Complaining and grumbling accomplish very little, if anything. They may make us feel better for a moment, but the feeling doesn't last.

Those trials, though? They could be accomplishing something if we'd stop complaining and grumbling about them. James tells us that the trials are testing our faith, which will produce perseverance, which in turn will produce maturity. That sounds like cause for joy!

We are not meant to find joy in the trials themselves. No one feels joy because of an illness or the death of someone they love or financial burdens or trouble at work. Obviously, it is only through God's Spirit that we can consider trials to be joy. If we are focused on Him, focused on enduring those trials while holding tight to our faith in His goodness and His faithfulness, then His Spirit will be at work in our lives. We will develop maturity as believers, and we will find joy even in the hard times.