Challenge to Peace

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challenge, deborah chandler ministries, fruit of peace, fruits of the Spirit, Isisah 53, peace, Peace with God

Hi there,

Last week we took the challenged to challenge ourselves  in the fruit of joy.  Well, how’d you do?  It was a especially challenging for me because my mentor and dear pastor went home to be with the Lord.  I know that grieving is natural when someone dies and therefore I was and am.  But I did sign up for this challenge.  The word that kept coming up in my spirit was Isaiah 53:4, “Surely, he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…”  Right there I knew I had a choice.  I could receive what Jesus had given me or I could keep what I had, my griefs and sorrows.  I wish I could say that through it all I remained stable trusting in God, but I can’t exactly.  What I can say is that when I yielded to the Holy Spirit I had an inward stability but when I didn’t I didn’t.  You see the Holy Spirit is in us producing the fruit that we need but we have to allow it to come forth.  The choice is ours.

This week we will challenge ourselves in the fruit of peace.  Peace and joy are related because it’s impossible to have an inward stability that God through Jesus Christ has already worked it out and not have peace.  Peace is wholeness. Nothing missing, nothing broken completeness.  Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Peace is more than a state of mind it’s Christ in us.

Peace is produced in us as we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us Jesus Christ, who He is, what He has done and all He has given us.  As we see this we see that we have nothing missing and nothing broken.  We see that there is no need for us to fear because God is not angry with us.  It was only after man sinned and the glory of God fell from him that he feared.  But thank God Jesus came and covered us in His righteousness and glory so that we no longer have to fear.  We have peace with God and therefore have nothing missing and nothing broken.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Throughout this week let’s ask the Holy Spirit to give us that revelation of Jesus, who He is, what He has done and all that He has given us so that no matter what things look like on the outside we know we have peace we know that we have nothing missing and nothing broken.

Challenge To Joy

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challenge, deborah chandler ministries, fruit, happy, joy, joyous, take the challenge

Hey there!

Last week we challenged ourselves to challenge ourselves to grow in the fruits of the Spirit beginning with Love.  Well, how’d you do?  I hope you not only took the challenges that were presented to you but I hope you went a little further and stretched and challenged yourself in the area Love.  I know I hadn’t so much as finished writing before I was confronted with an opportunity to go beyond myself to Love.  I thank God for the Holy Spirit’s gentle nudge.  He’s always ready to give us what we need when we need it.  But as we talked about last week, the decision is ours whether to yield to His nudging or not.  As a matter of fact, growing in the fruits of the Spirit is really learning to yield to the Holy Spirit because fruits are produced in us by Him.

This week we’re challenging ourselves in Joy.   Now if you’re thinking this is an easy one think again.  Let’s look at what Joy is.  I like the definition given by the late Apostle Betty Peebles, “Joy is an inward stability that God through Jesus Christ has already work it out on our behalf.”   We can’t obtain this kind of joy it is developed or produced in us by the working of the Holy Spirit.  It’s important for us to know that nothing on the outside of us can give us joy. And that joy is not just an emotion but it is Christ in us.  Emotions can be turned on and off by things on the outside of us but joy is not affected by the things on the outside.  Yes, our emotions are affected by the presence of joy but joy itself is not just an emotion just as fear is not an emotion.  According to II Timothy 1:7 fear is a spirit yet our emotions are affected by the presence of fear.

Therefore, to challenge ourselves in joy is to challenge ourselves to allow the Holy Spirit no matter what situation or circumstance we’re going through to cause us to remain stable, trusting God that He has supplied all that we need through Christ.  Things don’t necessarily have to be all good, but in the midst of it we can have joy.  You could be down to your last dime financially but in the midst of it you can still have joy.  In the midst of everything and all things we can have an inward stability that God through Jesus Christ has already worked it out so we don’t have to freak out.

The most exciting part of this is that we don’t work to obtain joy.  It comes out of our relationship with Christ.  Jesus said in  John 15:4, “Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”  Therefore, the more that we are in fellowship with Jesus, listening, talking, giving, receiving, the more joy the Holy Spirit produces in us or the more inward stability and trust in God the Holy Spirit produces in us.

I challenge you this week to challenge yourself to allow the joy of the Lord to flow through you no matter what you’re faced with throughout this week.  Remember the choice is yours to yield or not.  However, yielding comes easy to someone you’re in relationship with.  Don’t forget I want to hear from you.  Let’s encourage each other in Joy!

Take The Challenge!

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challenge, criticize, deborah chandler ministries, fruits of the Spirit, love, walk in love

Every day we are faced with challenges.  Some of them we are ready to take and others we’re not so ready.  Ready or not challenge is coming and how we face them will reveal to us our level of growth or where we need to grow.  So challenge is good because it causes us to grow. And if you are serious about your development you won’t necessarily wait for the challenge to come to you, you will challenge yourself.

Paul said in Philippians 3:11-12 “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.  Not as through I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”  Paul wasn’t going to sit back passively and wait for the challenge to come to him he said “but I follow after” or I will pursue.  What was Paul going to pursue? He was going to pursue the life that Jesus died for him to have.

Pursing the God life is pursuing the person of Jesus Christ.  His love, His joy, His peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance or the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  The fruits of the Spirit is the character and life of Christ produced in us by the Holy Spirit.  And as long as we live in this world we will be challenged in these areas because we were created with free will.  We can either allow the Holy Spirit to flow Christ’s life through us or we can hold back and continue to live our own natural life.  The choice is ours.

Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” In other words, whatever God reveals to us we have the responsibility to do something about it.  So if you know God has been talking to you about walking in love, than it’s your responsibility to pursue Christ’s life for that area of your life.

One of the areas I’ve been challenged with is not being critical.  To be critical is to find fault with or point out the faults of others.   To find fault with something or someone means that there is a standard that you are measuring that person or thing by.  Trust me this is not an easy thing to overcome, it definitely takes the Holy Spirit because most of the time we confuse being critical with giving good advice.  Especially when no one has asked us for our so-called “good advice.”  Being critical also means that you think you’re better than the person you’re criticizing.  I told you it wasn’t easy (Ouch!). For example, let’s say you fancy yourself a good cook and you’re husband takes you out to eat at one of the finest restaurant in town but instead of enjoying the evening out and the meal you began to criticize the food.  You might say something like “the steak is good but they could have added more seasoning.”  Or you see a woman walking on the street and you say “her outfit is nice but I wouldn’t have worn those shoes.” It all seems innocent enough but powerfully poisonous to our peace and joy.   Being critical is a challenge to walk in love.

Jesus left us this commandment, “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12).  Jesus loved us so much that he died for us.  Even on the cross instead of criticizing and judging He said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34).  The love of God sees no faults and knows nothing against.  The love of God sees the old self as being dead.  Therefore, if I know that I’m dead than the only standard that I can use against another is Christ because I’m dead to self and alive to Christ.  His life, His love sees no faults or knows nothing against.  So now if I see a woman on the street it’s no longer “I wouldn’t wear those shoes with that dress” it’s “what a lovely dress and shoes” because Christ sees no faults.  But this only happens as I continuously pursue His life and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through me.  Am I tempted to criticize? Yes.  But remember the choice is ours whether to yield or not.  I can chose to yield to the temptation or yield to the Holy Spirit.

I want us to challenge ourselves to challenge ourselves to grow.  For nine weeks we will look at the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23 and challenge ourselves in each of these areas.  I know it won’t be easy but the Holy Spirit is in us to help us.   Our first fruit challenge, you guessed it, is Love.   Maybe the Lord has revealed something to you related to walking in love or you just want to develop in your love walk.  This week I challenge you to pursue the love of Christ.  Whether it’s in showing love to others or in your relationship with God.   Maybe it’s doing a study or reading a book on the love of Christ.  Whatever it takes for you to grow in love, I challenge you to do it.

For these challenges  I’ve created a new category called ‘Take The Challenge’ this way you’ll have easy access to each challenge. And don’t forget  I want to hear from you.  Let me know how God has challenged you or how you’ve challenged yourself in your love walk.   Okay, that’s it.  Get set, ready, grow in Love!