Fruitful E-Book

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 157

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

A Devotional for Harvesting God-Given Spiritual Fruits  As Christians, we long for a spiritually fruitful life. However, our attempts to work more and hustle harder only leave us feeling weary and worn. Thankfully, God's word supplies the nourishment we so desperately need. As we abide in Jesus, he fills our emptiness with an abundant crop of spiritual fruit. Through the trusted voices of several female bestselling authors, editors, and Bible teachers, this 40-day devotional explores each of the 9 fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5. Every daily reading includes a related verse to ponder, a theologically rich reflection, additional Bible passages to read, and a prayer. This short format provides readers with an easy-to-use devotional resource, filled with substantial biblical counsel for harvesting God-given spiritual fruit.  - Unpacks Each Fruit of the Spirit: Pulling content from Galatians 5 and other Scripture passages, this book is deeply biblical and theologically rich  - Great for Individuals and Groups: Devotions are perfect for personal reading or as a tool to encourage a group of friends  - Devotional: Each of the 40 readings includes reflections, responses, and prayers - Recipes: Recipes from the contributors' kitchens for fruit dishes to make at home - Contributions by Trusted Voices: Melissa Kruger, Abbey Wedgeworth, Lydia Brownback, Courtney Doctor, Megan Hill, Winfree Brisley, Lindsey Carlson, Blair Linne, Trillia Newbell, and Sharonda Cooper

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Fruitful

Fruitful

Cultivating a Spiritual Harvest That Won’t Leave You Empty

Megan Hill and Melissa B. Kruger, editors

Fruitful: Cultivating a Spiritual Harvest That Won’t Leave You Empty

© 2024 by Megan Hill and Melissa B. Kruger

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Crystal Courtney

First printing 2024

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated into any other language.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-9221-8 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-9223-2 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-9222-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hill, Megan, 1978– editor. | Kruger, Melissa B., editor.

Title: Fruitful : cultivating a harvest that won't leave you empty / Megan Hill, Melissa B. Kruger, editors.

Description: Wheaton, Illinois : Crossway, [2024] | Series: Gospel coalition | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2023029883 (print) | LCCN 2023029884 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433592218 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781433592225 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433592232 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Christian women—Conduct of life. | Success—Religious aspects—Christianity. | Fruit of the Spirit. | Bible. Galatians, III, 22–23

Classification: LCC BV4527 .F78 2024 (print) | LCC BV4527 (ebook) | DDC 248.8/43—dc23/eng/20231127

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023029883

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023029884

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2024-03-20 12:20:32 PM

To the many women we’ve been able to meet through the ministry of TGC.

We are so grateful for your kingdom service and the abundant harvest the Lord is producing in and through you.

Contents

  Introduction

  Day 1 Pursue a Better Dream

  Love

  Day 2 Love Begins with God

  Day 3 Love Came Down

  Day 4 Love Changes Everything

  Day 5 Let Love Be Genuine

  Something to Savor: Best-Ever Raspberry Muffins

  Joy

  Day 6 True Joy Doesn’t Fade

  Day 7Jesus Has This

  Day 8 Find Joy When Life Hurts

  Day 9 Rejoice Always

  Something to Savor: Mama Too’s Summer Peach Pie

  Peace

  Day 10 God Designed You for Peace

  Day 11 You Need Two Kinds of Peace

  Day 12 Peace Comes from Trust

  Day 13 Be at Peace with All

  Something to Savor: Apple Breakfast Grain Bowl

  Day 14 Abide in Jesus

  Patience

  Day 15 Wait on the Lord

  Day 16 Look in the Right Direction

  Day 17 Enroll in the School of Patience

  Day 18 Time Is Short

  Something to Savor: Farmstand Blueberry Cobbler

  Kindness

  Day 19 Kindness Might Surprise You

  Day 20Jesus Frees You to Be Kind

  Day 21 Put Off and Put On

  Day 22 Kindness Is Not Random

  Something to Savor: Raspberry Sorbet

  Goodness

  Day 23 Show Us Your Goodness

  Day 24 Goodness Requires Practice

  Day 25 Goodness Looks Good on You

  Day 26 Share the Goodness!

  Something to Savor: Summer Fruit Cobbler

  Day 27 Suffering Leads to Fruitfulness

  Faithfulness

  Day 28 Take Small Steps toward God

  Day 29 Suffer Faithfully

  Day 30 Don’t Wear the Faithfulness Mask

  Day 31 Faithfulness Isn’t a Lonely Fruit

  Something to Savor: Blackberry and Plum Jam

  Gentleness

  Day 32 The Spirit Makes Us Gentle

  Day 33 Suffering People Need a Gentle Savior

  Day 34 Gentleness Is Your Calling

  Day 35 Gentleness Helps Others Honor God

  Something to Savor: Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon-Poppyseed Dressing

  Self-Control

  Day 36 Learn to Say No

  Day 37 Only Eat the Best Bread

  Day 38 Self-Control Keeps You Safe

  Day 39 Self-Control Bears Fruit

  Something to Savor: Perfect Cranberry Sauce

  Day 40 Flourish with Fruit for Tomorrow

  Notes

  Scripture Index

Introduction

How do you measure a successful life? Is it the number of likes or followers or double-taps? Is it the cleanliness of your kitchen or the letters after your name? Is it the sum of the things you’ve checked off your bucket list? Is it a sense of happiness or satisfaction? Is it what other people think about you?

Or is it something else entirely?

The Bible often uses the language of “fruitful” to describe a life well-lived. In the garden of Eden, God instructed our first parents to “be fruitful” (Gen. 1:28). In the Old Testament, he promised his people Israel that he would make them fruitful if they followed him (Lev. 26:9), and he pledged to restore them to fruitfulness when they disobeyed and repented (Jer. 23:3; Ezek. 36:11). Throughout the first books of the Bible, the good life is the fruitful life.

Even after the coming of Jesus, the Lord holds up fruitfulness as the measure of success for people who follow him. The New Testament is filled with encouragements to be fruitful. But instead of talking about fruitfulness in terms of abundant crops and large biological families, the Lord points his people to spiritual fruitfulness.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus describes the person whose heart is good soil, “who hears the word [of God] and understands it.” This person “bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matt. 13:23). Although the metaphor is agricultural, Jesus’s point is spiritual. A person who knows and receives the saving message of God’s word will start to display the fruit of following Christ. If Christ is at work in your heart by his Spirit, your life will look different than it once did. Your life, in fact, will look a lot like Jesus.

Perhaps the most famous description of fruitfulness in the whole Bible comes from Galatians 5:22–25: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

In this devotional, we will look at each of the nine aspects of a fruitful life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. For each one, we will see how the Bible defines it, how Jesus displays it, what practicing it means for our own souls, and what it means for our relationships.

We’ll be turning to a different passage of Scripture each day for forty days, since only the word of God can give us what we need for a fruitful life. As we do, we’ll consider what that day’s text has to say about bearing fruit in the power of the Spirit; we’ll also look at additional Bible passages. It’s not just one or two verses that can help us—it’s the teaching of the whole Bible. Each section is capped off with one of our favorite fruit-filled recipes. We hope they will help you enjoy the sweetness of God’s creation, reflect on his goodness, and share what you’ve learned with others.

You might choose to read this book on your own as part of your daily time of Bible reading and prayer, helping you to grow in your knowledge of God and love for him. But you might also want to read it with a friend or a group of friends, encouraging one another as you seek spiritual fruit in your lives together. Either way, the reflections, responses, and prayers that accompany each day’s reading are designed to draw you closer to Christ as you display the fruit of walking with him.

Do you want a successful life? Come along with us as we ask for the Spirit’s help to pursue a fruitful life.

Day 1

Pursue a Better Dream

Melissa Kruger

Read

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22–25)

Reflect

A few years ago, I read a book by a well-known influencer who encouraged her readers to build a “dream wall,” a blank space to post images of their hopes for life, with specific goals they hoped to achieve. The dream wall would serve as a daily reminder of what each woman was working toward. If you could visualize it, the author promised, you could make it happen. The author’s own dream wall included meeting famous people, being on the cover of influential magazines, and having a second home, in Hawaii.

The book left me with a sense of exhaustion and emptiness. It communicated: Work harder, be better, do more, and you can achieve the life of your dreams! The underbelly of that type of thinking is that if my life isn’t living up to my dreams, it must be my fault. I also know enough about life (and my own heart) to recognize that I’d probably still be discontent even if I gained everything I think I want. A beach house in Hawaii isn’t enough to satisfy a thirsty soul.

Today’s verses point us to a different sort of dream wall. And, there’s good news—the Spirit is the one doing the work. The Bible doesn’t give us a message of work harder, do better. It gives us a message of dependence on Jesus: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We flourish not by our own achievements, but by abiding in Jesus.

Instead of prioritizing earthly gains, the Spirit-filled dream wall imagines a fruit-bearing woman. The Spirit produces a singular fruit that blossoms in a beautiful variety of ways: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It’s a different kind of hope from earthly gains. This spiritual dream wall offers a harvest that increases year to year. This fruit never spoils but offers a continual blessing to others. Whatever may happen outwardly, the inner soul is renewed and refreshed because the branches are abiding in the vine. This is an invitation to strive less and abide more.

It’s also an encouragement to dream bigger. Take a moment to visualize an extravagant harvest of spiritual fruit. Ask God to make you joyful in every circumstance, patient with those who are difficult, gentle with those who make mistakes, and self-controlled when life feels out of control. This is the fruit of a soul that abides in Jesus. As we walk by his Spirit, he teaches us more about himself and then produces fruit that reflects Jesus in our lives.

Respond

In what ways do earthly gains and successes tend to leave us always wanting more? What would it look like for you to prioritize abiding in Jesus in the hopes of bearing spiritual fruit?

Request

O Lord, I want to be like Jesus. Fill me with your Spirit and transform me by your word. As I abide in you, bear your fruit through me. Let me be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let me be blessed to be a blessing as I keep in step with the Spirit.

Love

Let me tell you where love was born. Love was born in the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus sweat great drops of blood, it was nurtured in Pilate’s hall, where Jesus bared his back to the ploughing of the lash, and gave his body to be spit upon and scourged. Love was nurtured at the cross, amid the groans of an expiring God, beneath the droppings of his blood—it was there that love was nurtured. Bear me witness, children of God. Where did your love spring from, but from the foot of the cross?

Charles Spurgeon1

Day 2

Love Begins with God

Abbey Wedgeworth

Read

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” (Ex. 34:6–7)

Reflect

What is love?

I can’t ask that question without the 1990s Haddaway song popping into my mind. And now I’m sitting here in a coffee shop, bobbing my head to the beat: “What is love? Baby, don’t hurt me.” But the lyrics that follow this iconic intro do nothing to answer that question. Perhaps a better song title would be “What Isn’t Love?”

The Bible offers more concrete definitions. In 1 Corinthians 13 (the frontrunner for the superlative “Most likely to be read at a wedding”), the apostle Paul explicitly answers the question, What is love? It is patient and kind. It isn’t self-seeking. It bears and believes all things. It doesn’t envy, and it doesn’t end. In his New Testament letter, John provides an even more poignant and concise definition: “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Before time, love existed between Father, Son, and Spirit. Man was made in God’s image as an overflow of that Trinitarian love. His definition reveals the history of love and also its source: God.

Because we are his image bearers, we have the ability to love as he loves.

The English word for love is a little sloppy. I love my nail polish. I also love my child. The word communicates affection in both contexts but only self-sacrificial care in the latter. We can usually discern the difference based on the context. However, in the Bible, numerous Greek and Hebrew words for love offer us categories for different types of love, leaving less room for misunderstanding.

There is sexual love (eros/yada), friendship love (phileo/ahabah), and familial love (storge/ahabah). But the most common word for love used in the Greek portion of the Bible is agape. It refers to charity, love that is unchanged regardless of changing circumstances. Agape’s Hebrew counterpart is hesed, which refers to steadfast love or lovingkindness. This word is most commonly used to describe God’s love for his people in the Old Testament.

In the first description of his attributes found in the Bible, God says he abounds in steadfast love (Ex. 34:6–7). Shockingly, God isn’t saying this to nice people who follow him faithfully. He says it to destructive and self-seeking people. To them, he describes himself as overflowing with forgiveness, kindness, and commitment.

Just as Paul defines love by what it does and does not do, and John exhorts Christians to love, not just in word but also in deed (1 John 3:18), God’s description of himself shows that love is never merely affection—it is action. The ultimate demonstration of love in action is God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. In love, God preserves his people. In love, he gives us his Son. In love, he pours out his Spirit. And his Spirit enables us to respond according to the commands he has given us—in love.

This sort of love is not natural. Without the Spirit, we love people the way I love my nail polish. Love becomes a matter of preference or performance. But what happens when our preferences change? What about when people no longer meet our needs or please us? By contrast, God’s love—steadfast love—endures all things. His love is different from our love.

As beloved of God, those who love him receive the ability to love as he does through the power of his Spirit. To define love, we need to know its source. To practice love, we need the God who is love to live in us.

Respond

If you were asked by a stranger on the street how you define love, how would you respond? What experiences have most shaped your understanding of love? How do your experiences compare or contrast with the definitions offered in 1 Corinthians 13:1–13 and 1 John 3:16–20?

Request

Father, I praise you that you are a God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. I am in awe of how you forgive iniquity and transgression and sin. I am humbled to be a recipient of your mercy, grace, patience, forgiveness, and steadfast love. Thank you for your faithfulness to me, even when I am faithless. Forgive me for the times I fail to show love. Please convict me when I am not loving well, and help me by the power of your Spirit to love others as you have loved me.