Hi Donny ~ I’m going to be married 56 years to the same guy this Saturday. I love him dearly, but I’m about as Gentle with him as a blowtorch. When he’s been discouraged, sick or angry, I’ve always told him to “just suck it up.” Yikes! I know better. Shouldn't love result in gentleness & kindness??? Lately, I’ve been trying to concentrate on Proverb 15:1 ~ “A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.” My husband really responds when I am gentle and kind, and we have a more peaceful life. I’m definitely thinking I need to pray, study & seek the Holy Spirit more… Thanks for the Prayer Walk. I enjoyed it! ~ Jan xoxo
As usual, you always ask such great questions that make me think more deeply about Scripture. I think we are called to be fruit inspectors. We need to continually inspect our own fruit. But we also need to look at the fruit of others, not to judge, but to help us understand where they are in their walk and how we can encourage them. I think probably my strongest fruit is faithfulness and without question my weakest is patience. It's something God works with me on all the time. As the saying goes, we shouldn't pray for patience because God will give us opportunities to grow it. I still pray for it, though, and work to be more content in the waiting. Obviously, the more we are Spirit-controlled, the more we bear fruit, so being open to the Spirit's leading means we have more tendency to bear fruit. I see beautiful fruit in so many in this community! Thanks for another encouraging walk, Donny. Love the visitation by the critter - an otter?
Thank you for sharing Cathy. I'm glad you still pray for patience. It's wise to pray for thing that make us more like Christ. especially if they are hard. Yes, it was an otter.
Donny, wonderful prayer walk this morning..I first listened to it very early like 4:00 a.m. when I couldn't sleep. After listening and spending a few quiet moments reflecting on the message, I was able to go back to sleep for a few hours. Woke up thinking about the fruits of the spirit. taking the time to reflect on each one. Just finished listening the second time, did as you suggested, rated myself, wrote out examples for each one. My strongest fruits are faithfulness, kindness, peace, love and joy. Self-control and patience are the most challenging for me. Self-control in the sense of resisting temptations for monitoring healthy food choices. Now patience on the other hand is a different story...waiting is not easy, I want things to happen when I want them to happen. Thanks for another thoughtful walk to help me understand more fully my walk with the Lord. The area for the walk was beautiful as was the little critter who wanted to walk/swim with you. Blessings to you!
Donny, have spent some more time reflecting this afternoon, there’s a couple other things with self-control I need to work on, added it to the list in my journal as it’s something I really need to work on. Would appreciate prayers for guidance to work through it..
Good morning Donny and Community. Wow, the fruits of the Spirit for me go hand in hand. What I mean by that, is if my walk with God is strong, then I usually bear most of the fruits of the spirit equally because they are naturally a part of me. However, if I temporarily walk away from God when my sinful pride takes over, I don't tend to bear any of the fruits of the Spirit well. Hope that makes sense in what I just said. For me, patience is definitely the worse fruit of the Spirit for me. I tend to be independent and not have a lot patience. I find when I'm impatient, pride enters in, frustrations set in which rips the joy and peace I have for God right out. When I'm impatient, I can get angry and do not bear kindness. When I'm impatient, instead of being faithful, I end up being faithless. Honestly, I hate myself when this happens. Unfortunately, it happened recently. I became impatient which resulted in feeling frustrated; anger set in not knowing or understanding the who, what, where, and why of all of it. That's when I reached out and asked for prayer from this community. You guys are prayer warriors, let me tell you. They were definitely felt, and so appreciated. One thing I do know, is when I experience impatience, it is ME drawing away from God. It is NOT God drawing away from me. After this last struggle or trial if you will, I've learning each time that I believe God is teaching me patience in the endurance of this race, we call life. I'm also being taught to draw even closer to Him; be even more vulnerable in my walk of faith. I would say I need to learn to take these lies and thoughts captive much better so as to not to experience this prideful impatience and the need for control. Believe me, it's much better than years ago, but like all of us, I'm learning and growing in my walk with Jesus each and every day. I'm not perfect and full of flaws, but God loves me and each of us despite those. So the worse fruit of the Spirit for me is patience, but the best for me is kindness which I think you can include the gift of exhortation(encouragement) in that. What I can say is I genuinely LOVE everyone in this community. I will end it there as I'm smiling when I'm writing this at 5:30am. God is blessing this community, and I'm so grateful and thankful He has brought us all together. I know it's helped me tremendously in my walk with Jesus, and I praise Him for that. Thank you Donny for encouraging us each week and letting God use you as a vessel in doing so. Have a great week and God bless each of you.
Taking them captive means to me, is when I feel the fiery farts of Satan starting to penetrate my mind, I need to do a better job of giving it to God right then and let him fight the battle instead of me. I need to do a better job of that, and sometimes that happens when I am impatient. Hope that makes sense. Best way I know how to explain it.
Please pray for me and my family we are going back home to the Philippines for a family reunion on July 23 (safe travel) I pray that I can do the long flight 13 hours @ Anne Wooten
Thank you Elisa! We all can always use prayers. Right now, I'm healthy, grateful, and just glad to be alive. God has a plan and he's teaching patience. God probably will be doing that for the rest of my life here on earth, but that's okay. Thank you my friend. Take care and God bless you.
Hey Donny, I just watched the video and would like to make a more theological introduction.
I noticed that you use singular “fruit of the Spirit” instead of plural “fruits” – if my translation is not wrong.
I have already had some studies on Paul's speech, in which it is considered that the apostle makes a difference between “fruit of the Spirit” in the singular and “fruits” in the plural.
Of all the explanations I've heard, the one I like the most is that the fruit of the Spirit is a unit, so it doesn't give one the freedom to think that one can be kind without being longsuffering.
But at the same time you asked: what is the strongest and weakest fruit in you?
So, my reflection is: if one virtue is directly linked to another, they are indivisible and only “together” form the “fruit”. Therefore, if I lack love, I lack all other virtues...
I wanted to hear from you about this! I know it's a topic that demands deeper discussion, but I'd love to hear from you a little bit...
Thank you for the walk and for the message - which is a field that I am deeply curious/study of - hence the reflection.
Great comments and question. When I read or hear "fruit" it means plural. I'm no scholar but I think this is an English language thing.
If you continue to read 1 Corinthians 13 verse 13 he says "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." When I read that the fruit seem like individual fruit and yet they all seem linked to LOVE.
My personal opinion is:
No matter the theological, hermeneutical or apologetical way we look at it or discus it. The answer to the question remains utmost important. "Are we bearing the REAL fruit(s) from the Spirit of God as written in the Bible?".
Yes, everything is connected to LOVE! That's why I like to think that the Fruit of the Spirit is a unit, the sum of all virtues results in love.
But, answering the question, "Are we bearing REAL fruit of the Spirit of God as written in the Bible?"
The fruit of the Spirit is not something that comes from me, but it is a work of the Holy Spirit.
That doesn't mean I don't have to do my part, so I believe I'm growing by practicing prayer, reading the Bible, and seeking a deeper connection with God.
I love Romans 8:9 "But you are not in the control of the flesh, but of the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you", that is, if we are connected with God and are led by the Holy Spirit, then we produce good fruits.
However, the challenge is to maintain this connection, but God is so amazing that He gives us the opportunity to pursue a life of holiness as an ongoing process (As an impulsive person, I thank God immensely for this).
Good point, Angela. It is singular, but so are a basket of apples. I read up on interpretations of this and they are as varied as the many types of fruit. Some commentators say it's all or none. Some say there is an order of importance. Some say that are separate like apples - the same type of fruit but still unique individual units. I'm sure Donny will have some insights as well because he always does his research! Thanks for your insights and question. Love the discussion.
Good morning Donny and to all members of this community.I was blessed with another walk with Donny today and thank you Donny I feel that God is using you.I pray that many will be able to join in your walks.I can say that I have the fruit of love and kindness .Sometimes I have no self control but I am working on it.When I help my friends and neighbors I do it for the Lord Jesus Christ.I live in s Senior’s condo and when I learn that someone is sick and can’t cook I bring food and visit them.I love cooking so I share it to my neighbors and friends.If we have the opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of God.Since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit.God bless us all and pray for one another.I am a prayer warrior and if you need a prayer please contact me through this community I would love to pray for you. Thank again Donny I always love to walk with you on Wednesdays.
Great thought provoking Prayer Walk and Questions today. Thank you. I am not sure what my strongest "Fruit" is but I would say my weakest one is Patience (Longsuffering) I get so frustrated with my youngest son who has a mild Intelectual Disability and has a habit of reading something on his phone and then coming out and telling us all about it even though we have heard it before. When we say we have heard it he just keeps going and lots of times he has only read part or the sensational Headline and doesn't get the right/full story. If it only happened occassionally it would be easier but it can be many times over an evening.
While you were speaking I recalled my old pastor speaking about the fruits and specifically patience. He said he took his wife to the grocery store and chose to wait for her. She was gone an extremely long time. What he realized was that he had used the fruit of patience but just like fruit we must not leave the tree barren and grow new fruit. My fruit should I chose to use any of them are my fruits. My fruits have a hard time expressing themselves because like the apple I can be vibrant or blush. I just know I should not compare my fruit to another’s fruit. This could lead to envy and coveting which doesn’t please God. My expression of the fruits are good but it’s my inner thoughts that get in my way. I guess my most difficult fruit is peace. I’m usually trying to find that fruit. What I heard this morning I need to stop focusing on the wind and keep my eyes on Jesus. Thank you for a blessed prayer walk this morning.
While you were speaking I was reminded of my old pastor speaking about the fruits and specifically patience. He said he took his wife to the grocery store and chose to wait for her. She was gone an extremely long time. What he realized was that he had used the fruit of patience but just like fruit we must not leave the tree barren and grow new fruit. My fruit should I chose to use any of them are my fruits. My fruits have a hard time expressing themselves because like the apple I can be vibrant or blush. I just know I should not compare my fruit to another’s fruit. This could lead to envy and coveting which doesn’t please God. My expression of the fruits are good but it’s my inner thoughts that get in my way. I guess my most difficult fruit is peace. I’m usually trying to find that fruit. What I heard this morning I need to stop focusing on the wind and keep my eyes on Jesus. Thank you for a blessed prayer walk this morning.
I work in a very dark place. Three of us talk about Salvation, Jesus and he as the bridge to God. Only one of us bears fruit, and it ain't me. I think I have to start over, reset this relationship with Jesus.
There are a lot of experienced followers of Christ here. What does starting over look like?
It has been an intense 4 days. Lots of conversations with Jesus. My wife reads the Bible every morning and I can tell she can tell I have been doing some real soul searching. It is amazing that our Lord is so willing to forgive and forget. He has been faithful to me, even when I was not faithful to him. Always watching, patiently waiting with his hand stretched out to me. No way to understand this in my simple mind, but simply must accept it as his way.
I am so happy with your decision to restart your relationship with Jesus.
I'm glad you're here on the Walk and feel safe to open your heart.
Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
As for your question: "What's it like to start over?"
A good start is to “talk” openly with Jesus, without ceremony and without fear and He will listen to you, you can be sure that Jesus hears you and will give you direction.
I'm praying for you and asking that God's Holy Spirit be with you in every area of your life.
Angela, thank you. I have a difficult time exposing my inner self to others. Kinda like the John Wayne cowboy characters, I hold things back, but I think I can trust people here in this virtual space.
Been in communication with Jesus and the message I am receiving is so positive! He's been watching and waiting so very patiently. I don't deserve his love, but there he is, holding out his hand to me. I really don't understand it.
Many years ago he spared me from terrible things. I took refuge in his promise of life, I lived it and breathed it, then I turned away from it once living became easy and routine. My actions have been something I am not proud of at all. When someone abandons my team, I write them off, give them the boot. What does God want to do with someone like me? Have I not proven my lack of loyalty? Even after he provided for me time and time again until I gathered myself and pushed forward?
I want to rejoice that Jesus knows, he knows and has been observing me all these years, but honestly, I have shamed myself, and Jesus. I just don't understand the how or why of his love. There are a zillion other people he can tap, why me, a traitor?
My apologies, simply thinking out in the open right now. These thoughts are my process, and I believe I can trust those here with them.
You are not alone! Over and over I have asked God to hang on to me, and He does. We are a work in progress.
In my experience, the best way to start over, or renew your mind, Romans 12:1-2, is in the Word. I asked God for friends that would be seekers after Him, and he came through in a big way. These friends that seek after God through His Word come from very different church backgrounds, and together we have studied using a study guide. These friends also have changed over time, but God has been faithful to provide. Currently we are studying The Finished Work of Christ, by Francis Schaeffer that goes through the first 8 chapters of Romans. I pray that God will protect you from the darkness as you continue your walk with Him in the full armor of God, Ephesians 6:11-24.
Linda, thank you for the sincerity in your words. A lot of water has passed under the bridge. Going be honest with you, hopefully you will understand. A hobby of mine is photography, and often I compose a picture to represent what I want others to see, and not the truth.
The portrait I present of myself is not exactly the truth. I am not the person you see in the picture. That person has been composed of what I want others to see. To borrow from a song, "faking it, not really making it".
It's no longer working, and have this strong desire to get real again. It's almost 2am and this is what is keeping me up. Jesus, I am ready.
No need to reply to this, just a need for me to beg the savior for mercy.
Good morning Donnie. I had to watch your prayer walk again only because time got away from me the first time. You asked what our strongest fruit was. Mine is serving and being there for others when needed. I try my best to think of others before myself. My weakest fruit standing up for myself. I hate confrontation I avoid it like the plague ha ha. I use to be I’ll prove you wrong. Though the last few years that strength as dwindled a lot. I’ve just have talked myself into that thinking so many times I myself have started to believe it. I know God believes I’m worth it so why don’t I? Any ways those are my two I hope you’re having a great morning and I hope the sun is shining where you are. Thank you Donnie for all your prayer walks that you do. They really make my day.
In listening to your prayer walk and then completing the rating of the fruits of the Holy Spirit I was amazed by what was clearly revealed to me about myself. My highest rated fruits were joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness; midrange were love, self control; lowest patience, kindness, gentleness. I realized that my highest fruits are internal, mostly controlled by me. My lowest fruits are external, involving interaction with others. My midrange are a combination of both, self love or love for others, self control for what I want to do or self control when dealing with others. So much of my personality is shaped by these basic fruits. Why is it easy for me to show the joy and peace of my Christian journey but more difficult to share my testimony? Why are words easier for me than actions? Thank you, Donny, for this simple exercise that provides clarity of where I can improve and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance to help me produce more good fruit. It truly is inspirational the way you challenge me to strengthen my relationship with Jesus. Praying for you on your journey!!
This has been my first time listening to your prayer walk. Very deep thoughts and not sure yet how to respond. I do know that forgiveness can be an issue for me due to past abuse. I struggle to forgive and forget the abuse and abusers.
I must say that your walk was so peaceful and the setting so beautiful. I love the lapping of the water. Hope to visit such places when I visit next month from Australia. Know this is off topic, but what was the animal in the water?
Back to the question of good fruit. Not really sure. A difficult one for me.
Hey, Christine! Glad you made it over here to listen to the prayer walk this week. I asked Donny about the animal, too, and he said it was an otter. It came so close - impressive!
Welcome to Caminhada and I hope you continue in this community that is a blessing and helps us face our struggles!
I understand you, ′′ forgiving ′′ is not easy!
Grief and other bad feelings don't always disappear overnight.
Forgiving, contrary to what it may seem at first glance, is not forgetting. Forgiveness is part of a process that is often painful, but extremely necessary for our release.
I like the Our Father prayer, where Jesus teaches us: “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors"
I pray that Jesus will enable you to forgive, that He will strengthen you not to blame yourself, and that the love of Jesus will flood your heart.
Hi Donny ~ I’m going to be married 56 years to the same guy this Saturday. I love him dearly, but I’m about as Gentle with him as a blowtorch. When he’s been discouraged, sick or angry, I’ve always told him to “just suck it up.” Yikes! I know better. Shouldn't love result in gentleness & kindness??? Lately, I’ve been trying to concentrate on Proverb 15:1 ~ “A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.” My husband really responds when I am gentle and kind, and we have a more peaceful life. I’m definitely thinking I need to pray, study & seek the Holy Spirit more… Thanks for the Prayer Walk. I enjoyed it! ~ Jan xoxo
Thank you for sharing Jan. I am praying for you and your husband right now
Thanks, Donny ~ my husband's not going to know what hit him. I mean enveloped him. ha ha!
I love your honesty. Marriage is a good way to test your fruit - haha!
Is there such a thing as Gentle honesty? I need to learn that too... Ha ha!
As usual, you always ask such great questions that make me think more deeply about Scripture. I think we are called to be fruit inspectors. We need to continually inspect our own fruit. But we also need to look at the fruit of others, not to judge, but to help us understand where they are in their walk and how we can encourage them. I think probably my strongest fruit is faithfulness and without question my weakest is patience. It's something God works with me on all the time. As the saying goes, we shouldn't pray for patience because God will give us opportunities to grow it. I still pray for it, though, and work to be more content in the waiting. Obviously, the more we are Spirit-controlled, the more we bear fruit, so being open to the Spirit's leading means we have more tendency to bear fruit. I see beautiful fruit in so many in this community! Thanks for another encouraging walk, Donny. Love the visitation by the critter - an otter?
Thank you for sharing Cathy. I'm glad you still pray for patience. It's wise to pray for thing that make us more like Christ. especially if they are hard. Yes, it was an otter.
Donny, wonderful prayer walk this morning..I first listened to it very early like 4:00 a.m. when I couldn't sleep. After listening and spending a few quiet moments reflecting on the message, I was able to go back to sleep for a few hours. Woke up thinking about the fruits of the spirit. taking the time to reflect on each one. Just finished listening the second time, did as you suggested, rated myself, wrote out examples for each one. My strongest fruits are faithfulness, kindness, peace, love and joy. Self-control and patience are the most challenging for me. Self-control in the sense of resisting temptations for monitoring healthy food choices. Now patience on the other hand is a different story...waiting is not easy, I want things to happen when I want them to happen. Thanks for another thoughtful walk to help me understand more fully my walk with the Lord. The area for the walk was beautiful as was the little critter who wanted to walk/swim with you. Blessings to you!
I appreciate your honesty. Thank you for sharing Linda.
Donny, have spent some more time reflecting this afternoon, there’s a couple other things with self-control I need to work on, added it to the list in my journal as it’s something I really need to work on. Would appreciate prayers for guidance to work through it..
Praying now.
Thank you…
Good morning Donny and Community. Wow, the fruits of the Spirit for me go hand in hand. What I mean by that, is if my walk with God is strong, then I usually bear most of the fruits of the spirit equally because they are naturally a part of me. However, if I temporarily walk away from God when my sinful pride takes over, I don't tend to bear any of the fruits of the Spirit well. Hope that makes sense in what I just said. For me, patience is definitely the worse fruit of the Spirit for me. I tend to be independent and not have a lot patience. I find when I'm impatient, pride enters in, frustrations set in which rips the joy and peace I have for God right out. When I'm impatient, I can get angry and do not bear kindness. When I'm impatient, instead of being faithful, I end up being faithless. Honestly, I hate myself when this happens. Unfortunately, it happened recently. I became impatient which resulted in feeling frustrated; anger set in not knowing or understanding the who, what, where, and why of all of it. That's when I reached out and asked for prayer from this community. You guys are prayer warriors, let me tell you. They were definitely felt, and so appreciated. One thing I do know, is when I experience impatience, it is ME drawing away from God. It is NOT God drawing away from me. After this last struggle or trial if you will, I've learning each time that I believe God is teaching me patience in the endurance of this race, we call life. I'm also being taught to draw even closer to Him; be even more vulnerable in my walk of faith. I would say I need to learn to take these lies and thoughts captive much better so as to not to experience this prideful impatience and the need for control. Believe me, it's much better than years ago, but like all of us, I'm learning and growing in my walk with Jesus each and every day. I'm not perfect and full of flaws, but God loves me and each of us despite those. So the worse fruit of the Spirit for me is patience, but the best for me is kindness which I think you can include the gift of exhortation(encouragement) in that. What I can say is I genuinely LOVE everyone in this community. I will end it there as I'm smiling when I'm writing this at 5:30am. God is blessing this community, and I'm so grateful and thankful He has brought us all together. I know it's helped me tremendously in my walk with Jesus, and I praise Him for that. Thank you Donny for encouraging us each week and letting God use you as a vessel in doing so. Have a great week and God bless each of you.
Thank you Anne for sharing in such detail. May I ask how "taking lies and thoughts captive" looks for you practically?
Taking them captive means to me, is when I feel the fiery farts of Satan starting to penetrate my mind, I need to do a better job of giving it to God right then and let him fight the battle instead of me. I need to do a better job of that, and sometimes that happens when I am impatient. Hope that makes sense. Best way I know how to explain it.
Is there something practical that you do when you "give it" to God?
Pray is the most practical thing I try and do. Also tell myself I am worthy because He loves me.
Anne Wooten I always love your comments
Thank you Elisa! God bless you my friend.
If you need prayers let me know God bless my friend
Please pray for me and my family we are going back home to the Philippines for a family reunion on July 23 (safe travel) I pray that I can do the long flight 13 hours @ Anne Wooten
praying
Thank you Donny for your prayers
I certainly will Elisa. Feel free to always let me know here or shoot me a direct message on Instagram! Thank you for letting me know.
Thank you Anne
I am on instagram too let us keep in touch
Thank you Elisa! We all can always use prayers. Right now, I'm healthy, grateful, and just glad to be alive. God has a plan and he's teaching patience. God probably will be doing that for the rest of my life here on earth, but that's okay. Thank you my friend. Take care and God bless you.
Hey Donny, I just watched the video and would like to make a more theological introduction.
I noticed that you use singular “fruit of the Spirit” instead of plural “fruits” – if my translation is not wrong.
I have already had some studies on Paul's speech, in which it is considered that the apostle makes a difference between “fruit of the Spirit” in the singular and “fruits” in the plural.
Of all the explanations I've heard, the one I like the most is that the fruit of the Spirit is a unit, so it doesn't give one the freedom to think that one can be kind without being longsuffering.
But at the same time you asked: what is the strongest and weakest fruit in you?
So, my reflection is: if one virtue is directly linked to another, they are indivisible and only “together” form the “fruit”. Therefore, if I lack love, I lack all other virtues...
I wanted to hear from you about this! I know it's a topic that demands deeper discussion, but I'd love to hear from you a little bit...
Thank you for the walk and for the message - which is a field that I am deeply curious/study of - hence the reflection.
Great comments and question. When I read or hear "fruit" it means plural. I'm no scholar but I think this is an English language thing.
If you continue to read 1 Corinthians 13 verse 13 he says "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." When I read that the fruit seem like individual fruit and yet they all seem linked to LOVE.
My personal opinion is:
No matter the theological, hermeneutical or apologetical way we look at it or discus it. The answer to the question remains utmost important. "Are we bearing the REAL fruit(s) from the Spirit of God as written in the Bible?".
Yes, everything is connected to LOVE! That's why I like to think that the Fruit of the Spirit is a unit, the sum of all virtues results in love.
But, answering the question, "Are we bearing REAL fruit of the Spirit of God as written in the Bible?"
The fruit of the Spirit is not something that comes from me, but it is a work of the Holy Spirit.
That doesn't mean I don't have to do my part, so I believe I'm growing by practicing prayer, reading the Bible, and seeking a deeper connection with God.
I love Romans 8:9 "But you are not in the control of the flesh, but of the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you", that is, if we are connected with God and are led by the Holy Spirit, then we produce good fruits.
However, the challenge is to maintain this connection, but God is so amazing that He gives us the opportunity to pursue a life of holiness as an ongoing process (As an impulsive person, I thank God immensely for this).
Ah, thank you for giving your personal opinion!
🙂
Romans 8:9 great scripture!
Good point, Angela. It is singular, but so are a basket of apples. I read up on interpretations of this and they are as varied as the many types of fruit. Some commentators say it's all or none. Some say there is an order of importance. Some say that are separate like apples - the same type of fruit but still unique individual units. I'm sure Donny will have some insights as well because he always does his research! Thanks for your insights and question. Love the discussion.
Yes, There are many interpretations...
In fact, for me, is love as the basis of all the other virtues, if you don't have love it's impossible to truly have the others.
Another point I like to consider is the preaching of John the Baptist when he says that true repentance produces visible fruit in behavior change.
I also love these discussions, I learn a lot from you, so thank you so much!
Good morning Donny and to all members of this community.I was blessed with another walk with Donny today and thank you Donny I feel that God is using you.I pray that many will be able to join in your walks.I can say that I have the fruit of love and kindness .Sometimes I have no self control but I am working on it.When I help my friends and neighbors I do it for the Lord Jesus Christ.I live in s Senior’s condo and when I learn that someone is sick and can’t cook I bring food and visit them.I love cooking so I share it to my neighbors and friends.If we have the opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of God.Since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit.God bless us all and pray for one another.I am a prayer warrior and if you need a prayer please contact me through this community I would love to pray for you. Thank again Donny I always love to walk with you on Wednesdays.
Thank you for sharing Elisa. God bless
Great thought provoking Prayer Walk and Questions today. Thank you. I am not sure what my strongest "Fruit" is but I would say my weakest one is Patience (Longsuffering) I get so frustrated with my youngest son who has a mild Intelectual Disability and has a habit of reading something on his phone and then coming out and telling us all about it even though we have heard it before. When we say we have heard it he just keeps going and lots of times he has only read part or the sensational Headline and doesn't get the right/full story. If it only happened occassionally it would be easier but it can be many times over an evening.
Thank you for sharing Teresa. I am praying now for you and your son.
While you were speaking I recalled my old pastor speaking about the fruits and specifically patience. He said he took his wife to the grocery store and chose to wait for her. She was gone an extremely long time. What he realized was that he had used the fruit of patience but just like fruit we must not leave the tree barren and grow new fruit. My fruit should I chose to use any of them are my fruits. My fruits have a hard time expressing themselves because like the apple I can be vibrant or blush. I just know I should not compare my fruit to another’s fruit. This could lead to envy and coveting which doesn’t please God. My expression of the fruits are good but it’s my inner thoughts that get in my way. I guess my most difficult fruit is peace. I’m usually trying to find that fruit. What I heard this morning I need to stop focusing on the wind and keep my eyes on Jesus. Thank you for a blessed prayer walk this morning.
Interesting thought about growing new fruit. Thank you for sharing Lucinda
While you were speaking I was reminded of my old pastor speaking about the fruits and specifically patience. He said he took his wife to the grocery store and chose to wait for her. She was gone an extremely long time. What he realized was that he had used the fruit of patience but just like fruit we must not leave the tree barren and grow new fruit. My fruit should I chose to use any of them are my fruits. My fruits have a hard time expressing themselves because like the apple I can be vibrant or blush. I just know I should not compare my fruit to another’s fruit. This could lead to envy and coveting which doesn’t please God. My expression of the fruits are good but it’s my inner thoughts that get in my way. I guess my most difficult fruit is peace. I’m usually trying to find that fruit. What I heard this morning I need to stop focusing on the wind and keep my eyes on Jesus. Thank you for a blessed prayer walk this morning.
I work in a very dark place. Three of us talk about Salvation, Jesus and he as the bridge to God. Only one of us bears fruit, and it ain't me. I think I have to start over, reset this relationship with Jesus.
There are a lot of experienced followers of Christ here. What does starting over look like?
It has been an intense 4 days. Lots of conversations with Jesus. My wife reads the Bible every morning and I can tell she can tell I have been doing some real soul searching. It is amazing that our Lord is so willing to forgive and forget. He has been faithful to me, even when I was not faithful to him. Always watching, patiently waiting with his hand stretched out to me. No way to understand this in my simple mind, but simply must accept it as his way.
I am so happy with your decision to restart your relationship with Jesus.
I'm glad you're here on the Walk and feel safe to open your heart.
Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
As for your question: "What's it like to start over?"
A good start is to “talk” openly with Jesus, without ceremony and without fear and He will listen to you, you can be sure that Jesus hears you and will give you direction.
I'm praying for you and asking that God's Holy Spirit be with you in every area of your life.
God blesses!
Angela, thank you. I have a difficult time exposing my inner self to others. Kinda like the John Wayne cowboy characters, I hold things back, but I think I can trust people here in this virtual space.
Been in communication with Jesus and the message I am receiving is so positive! He's been watching and waiting so very patiently. I don't deserve his love, but there he is, holding out his hand to me. I really don't understand it.
Many years ago he spared me from terrible things. I took refuge in his promise of life, I lived it and breathed it, then I turned away from it once living became easy and routine. My actions have been something I am not proud of at all. When someone abandons my team, I write them off, give them the boot. What does God want to do with someone like me? Have I not proven my lack of loyalty? Even after he provided for me time and time again until I gathered myself and pushed forward?
I want to rejoice that Jesus knows, he knows and has been observing me all these years, but honestly, I have shamed myself, and Jesus. I just don't understand the how or why of his love. There are a zillion other people he can tap, why me, a traitor?
My apologies, simply thinking out in the open right now. These thoughts are my process, and I believe I can trust those here with them.
No need to apologize, we are a community to support each other!
Yeah, in a universe with more than 8 billion people, God chose each one of us, that's incredible!
Read Psalm 139, I think you'll find some answers there.
Keep talking to Jesus and I will keep praying for you!
You are not alone! Over and over I have asked God to hang on to me, and He does. We are a work in progress.
In my experience, the best way to start over, or renew your mind, Romans 12:1-2, is in the Word. I asked God for friends that would be seekers after Him, and he came through in a big way. These friends that seek after God through His Word come from very different church backgrounds, and together we have studied using a study guide. These friends also have changed over time, but God has been faithful to provide. Currently we are studying The Finished Work of Christ, by Francis Schaeffer that goes through the first 8 chapters of Romans. I pray that God will protect you from the darkness as you continue your walk with Him in the full armor of God, Ephesians 6:11-24.
Linda, thank you for the sincerity in your words. A lot of water has passed under the bridge. Going be honest with you, hopefully you will understand. A hobby of mine is photography, and often I compose a picture to represent what I want others to see, and not the truth.
The portrait I present of myself is not exactly the truth. I am not the person you see in the picture. That person has been composed of what I want others to see. To borrow from a song, "faking it, not really making it".
It's no longer working, and have this strong desire to get real again. It's almost 2am and this is what is keeping me up. Jesus, I am ready.
No need to reply to this, just a need for me to beg the savior for mercy.
Good morning Donnie. I had to watch your prayer walk again only because time got away from me the first time. You asked what our strongest fruit was. Mine is serving and being there for others when needed. I try my best to think of others before myself. My weakest fruit standing up for myself. I hate confrontation I avoid it like the plague ha ha. I use to be I’ll prove you wrong. Though the last few years that strength as dwindled a lot. I’ve just have talked myself into that thinking so many times I myself have started to believe it. I know God believes I’m worth it so why don’t I? Any ways those are my two I hope you’re having a great morning and I hope the sun is shining where you are. Thank you Donnie for all your prayer walks that you do. They really make my day.
In listening to your prayer walk and then completing the rating of the fruits of the Holy Spirit I was amazed by what was clearly revealed to me about myself. My highest rated fruits were joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness; midrange were love, self control; lowest patience, kindness, gentleness. I realized that my highest fruits are internal, mostly controlled by me. My lowest fruits are external, involving interaction with others. My midrange are a combination of both, self love or love for others, self control for what I want to do or self control when dealing with others. So much of my personality is shaped by these basic fruits. Why is it easy for me to show the joy and peace of my Christian journey but more difficult to share my testimony? Why are words easier for me than actions? Thank you, Donny, for this simple exercise that provides clarity of where I can improve and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance to help me produce more good fruit. It truly is inspirational the way you challenge me to strengthen my relationship with Jesus. Praying for you on your journey!!
This has been my first time listening to your prayer walk. Very deep thoughts and not sure yet how to respond. I do know that forgiveness can be an issue for me due to past abuse. I struggle to forgive and forget the abuse and abusers.
I must say that your walk was so peaceful and the setting so beautiful. I love the lapping of the water. Hope to visit such places when I visit next month from Australia. Know this is off topic, but what was the animal in the water?
Back to the question of good fruit. Not really sure. A difficult one for me.
Hey, Christine! Glad you made it over here to listen to the prayer walk this week. I asked Donny about the animal, too, and he said it was an otter. It came so close - impressive!
Thanks for letting me know. Thought it might be an otter, but wasn't sure. 🤗💖
Welcome to Caminhada and I hope you continue in this community that is a blessing and helps us face our struggles!
I understand you, ′′ forgiving ′′ is not easy!
Grief and other bad feelings don't always disappear overnight.
Forgiving, contrary to what it may seem at first glance, is not forgetting. Forgiveness is part of a process that is often painful, but extremely necessary for our release.
I like the Our Father prayer, where Jesus teaches us: “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors"
I pray that Jesus will enable you to forgive, that He will strengthen you not to blame yourself, and that the love of Jesus will flood your heart.
God bless you!
I am trying to forgive Angela. At times, I feel I do, but then with PTSD it all comes back. Continue to try. Thanks Angela 🤗💖🙏
Twas nothing, Christine!
It's a slow process indeed, but keep going and I'll be praying for you!
God blesses!
In view of how my day is today, I think I will listen again tomorrow and see what I think then. Thanks Donny