I know to make you happy. I give up. I don’t know how to make you happy. Guess what — I’m tired of trying.” And then he sadly concluded, “You just about have me to the point where I can’t stand you.”
Now, thank God, that’s been more than twenty-five years ago since I first realized that I had myself on my own mind too much. But even now I have to maintain the freedom I have gained by standing against selfish, self-centeredness, remembering to be adaptable, not to make mountains out of molehills, and countless other things. Meditate for a moment on how many marriages would be saved if people were not selfish. Perhaps you know one right now that is bordering on disaster, and the root cause is nothing other than selfishness. If so, why not give them a copy of this book and pray it will have an impact on their life. If the person you know is you, then you’re in good shape because you have the answer in your hand that you have been looking for — a book filled with godly principles that will show you the way to happiness and fulfillment.
7
MAY I CHOP THAT FRUIT FOR YOU?
And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others, that peace which means concord, agreement, and harmony between individuals, with undisturbedness, in a peaceful mind free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].
James 3:18
God’s goal for our relationships with others is peace. From the Scripture above we learn that harmony with others results from conforming to God’s will for us. God knows the healing power of a loving act, and He calls us to minister peace in our homes before He calls us to minister outside of our homes.
When I get up in the morning, sometimes God tells me to do things for Dave that I don’t want to do. For example, Dave likes to eat fruit salads. He likes everything all cut up in a bowl. I don’t mind taking him an apple, an orange, and a banana, but he wants it all cut up. Then he wants his vitamins and his orange juice and his coffee.
A few years ago we started having a housekeeper come in during the week. She takes care of Dave’s fruit salad, vitamins, orange juice, and coffee and she’s great, but one day, when it was a holiday, I went downstairs to make coffee in the morning and I was not in the humor to do anything but get my coffee and go back to my room. I wanted to pray and be with God.
God’s goal for our relationships with others is peace.
That’s our problem — we are so spiritual that we just want to “be with God” but don’t want to do anything Jesus tells us to do. He said that we need to serve each other. That particular holiday morning, the Holy Ghost started putting it in my heart to make that fruit salad for Dave. I got a banana and stuck it on the tray. The Holy Ghost said, “Fruit salad.”
I didn’t want to make the fruit salad. I really didn’t want to make it. I even said, “I don’t want to — I want to go pray.” Then the Lord said to me, “Joyce, serving Dave is serving Me.”
So I made the fruit salad.
And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others …
(James 3:18). Peace is something that we sow and then work for in ourselves and in others. The reward is harmony, agreement, and a peaceful mind free from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts. Suddenly, in light of God’s Word, making fruit salad for Dave was more than an act of conforming to God’s will; it was seed that brought peace and joy in my life.
My initial bad attitude reflects the heart of many Christians who will do something in the church for somebody else as their “ministry,” but if they do that same thing for someone in their family, they think they’re being turned into a slave. But if
Now, thank God, that’s been more than twenty-five years ago since I first realized that I had myself on my own mind too much. But even now I have to maintain the freedom I have gained by standing against selfish, self-centeredness, remembering to be adaptable, not to make mountains out of molehills, and countless other things. Meditate for a moment on how many marriages would be saved if people were not selfish. Perhaps you know one right now that is bordering on disaster, and the root cause is nothing other than selfishness. If so, why not give them a copy of this book and pray it will have an impact on their life. If the person you know is you, then you’re in good shape because you have the answer in your hand that you have been looking for — a book filled with godly principles that will show you the way to happiness and fulfillment.
7
MAY I CHOP THAT FRUIT FOR YOU?
And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others, that peace which means concord, agreement, and harmony between individuals, with undisturbedness, in a peaceful mind free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].
James 3:18
God’s goal for our relationships with others is peace. From the Scripture above we learn that harmony with others results from conforming to God’s will for us. God knows the healing power of a loving act, and He calls us to minister peace in our homes before He calls us to minister outside of our homes.
When I get up in the morning, sometimes God tells me to do things for Dave that I don’t want to do. For example, Dave likes to eat fruit salads. He likes everything all cut up in a bowl. I don’t mind taking him an apple, an orange, and a banana, but he wants it all cut up. Then he wants his vitamins and his orange juice and his coffee.
A few years ago we started having a housekeeper come in during the week. She takes care of Dave’s fruit salad, vitamins, orange juice, and coffee and she’s great, but one day, when it was a holiday, I went downstairs to make coffee in the morning and I was not in the humor to do anything but get my coffee and go back to my room. I wanted to pray and be with God.
God’s goal for our relationships with others is peace.
That’s our problem — we are so spiritual that we just want to “be with God” but don’t want to do anything Jesus tells us to do. He said that we need to serve each other. That particular holiday morning, the Holy Ghost started putting it in my heart to make that fruit salad for Dave. I got a banana and stuck it on the tray. The Holy Ghost said, “Fruit salad.”
I didn’t want to make the fruit salad. I really didn’t want to make it. I even said, “I don’t want to — I want to go pray.” Then the Lord said to me, “Joyce, serving Dave is serving Me.”
So I made the fruit salad.
And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others …
(James 3:18). Peace is something that we sow and then work for in ourselves and in others. The reward is harmony, agreement, and a peaceful mind free from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts. Suddenly, in light of God’s Word, making fruit salad for Dave was more than an act of conforming to God’s will; it was seed that brought peace and joy in my life.
My initial bad attitude reflects the heart of many Christians who will do something in the church for somebody else as their “ministry,” but if they do that same thing for someone in their family, they think they’re being turned into a slave. But if
Similar Books
