Hosanna Restoration Church

Lord, I don’t want just a piece of you. I know you do not want just a piece of me. You want all of me and I need all of you. The truth is, I think I am guilty of wanting pieces of what God promises while keeping pieces of me and what I want and think from you.

Do those thoughts sound at all familiar to you? The truth is that God made us and the only way for us to be complete to be all His. Jesus said that He came to make us whole and so the only way to be complete is to be wholly His. For this reason there is no room for complacency in our life with Him.

It is Godliness with contentment that produces great gain. Unfortunately, we can be lulled into complacency and be content with it and not even know. We can compromise just a little and then a little more and so the story goes.

One day as I read my Bible this week, I had this thought that I was just reading it to read it so I could tell myself I read it! Then I went back and read that part paying attention! I finished up my devotion time and went on with my day, but the thought germinated in my mind. You see, what I was reading was not all that interesting to me. It was one of those areas that have a verse or two that jump at you but they are surrounded by verses that just do not seem to stir you at all. Still, I pray that Holy Spirit has them hidden for His use.

This all brought me to thoughts of how God commanded Israel to seek Him and they saw the benefits clearly of seeking Him but still forgot Him and suffered greatly for it. We have Holy Spirit drawing us, calling us, and showing us the way; and we can still forget.

When we forget, our fruit begins to rot. God is love. And the greatest thing we have is His love. Love is powerful. I look at the fruit of the spirit and think about the love of God, and I do not see how we can experience or manifest it without peace. Not just any peace, but the peace of God that passes understanding.  Jesus is, after all, THE PRINCE OF PEACE!

Obviously the fruit travels as a pack. They all work together. There are times when one piece of the fruit may be more obvious, but it is just as obvious when a piece, namely peace is missing. You see if peace is missing, Jesus is missing.

If we have no peace we need to turn to God. We can pretend some of the fruit. We can actually put on a pretty good show in our own strength for a while. But the truth will find us out. When that happens, remember the truth makes us free, because He, Jesus, is the truth, the way, and the life. Let’s not be content giving God a piece here and there. We do not want just a piece of Him!