Fruit is sweet, luscious, juicy, nutritious, and completely yummy – especially during the warm months of Spring and Summer. Sitting with your loved ones enjoying watermelon or strawberry shortcake certainly warms the heart and soul. It’s no wonder Jesus, and his disciples, used the fruit analogy so frequently! Yum – pass the berries and lemon-aid please!
Divine fruit, Fruit of the Spirit, is the eternal fruit Jesus offers us. It is unique and rich beyond earthly fruit. Jesus’ fruit is the fruit our body, mind, heart, spirit and soul yearns for. It is the fruit of love. And lucky for us, this fruit is perpetually available – we don’t have to wait for Spring and Summer. Jesus’ fruit will permeated our total being and we will receive the nourishment our bodies crave. The experience can be profound, leading us to become a vessel for its expansion in the world so that others can also partake of its healing powers.
Fruit of the Spirit
In today’s Gospel Jesus reveals to us the path into his divine fruit. It is through love that we experience its expansion and manifestation. The entire chapter 15 of John is about this love – the love between Father and Son. As we enter into this love, divine fruit (Fruit of the Spirit) will come into its full ripeness. We will love more and as a result we will become greater vessels for Jesus Christ in this hurting world.
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. – Galatians 5:22 (NRSVCE)
Friendship With Jesus
So how do we receive such yummies? I would certainly like more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control! How about you? Well, we receive such blessings by becoming a true friend of Jesus Christ, by accepting his invitation into love. Jesus invites us into a divine friendship with him; a real, lasting, and joy filled friendship.
Even Moses and King David were not extended such an invitation! They we called servants or slaves of God, only Abraham was called a friend of God in the Old Testament. So when Jesus spoke the words “I have called you friends” in today’s Gospel God was establishing a new covenant with his followers. No longer are we held in bondage to the old law of slave/master, we are now a new creation in Jesus Christ through his blood. We are now invited into a deep friendship where we have the opportunity to become vessels of his healing power.
All About Real Love
There is one path into this friendship, and that path is love. It is hardly comprehensible to me that we are invited right into the middle of the love the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share. Can you imagine for a moment what it feels like to be held in the middle of the Trinity? Be still my beating heart. The peace, comfort, joy, and bliss is immeasurable.
Yet, we ARE being held there right now! Each and every one of us, whether we realize it or not, is surrounded by, and immersed within, God’s eternal and perpetual love. There is nothing we can do to stop God from loving us because God is love – he can be no other thing. All we need to do to experience this truth is surrender to love and allow love to heal and transform us.
Abounding Fruits
Jesus Christ, our friend, continually calls us into himself through the Holy Spirit. From the supernatural world his divine hand continually extends towards us. Jesus, the man, held nothing back from his disciples when he walked the earth, he shared with them everything he heard from the Father. The Cosmic Christ, likewise, extends the same intimacy to all mankind. What the Father revealed to Jesus, Jesus the Christ desires to share with us so that we can enter into their divine dance of love.
As we accept the invitation to enter into their divine dance of love we become appointed to go forth and bear everlasting fruit. You see, only while dancing in this love can we bear such fruit. Yet, we must also surrender to the healing and transformation the Trinity intends for us so that we can fully enjoy the dance. Nothing worse than dancing without proper attire and dancing shoes!
Our Gifts
God has given each of us unique gifts, gifts that need to be nurtured and cared for so that they can come into their full ripeness. Sadly, the world can be a hostile place for our gifts can’t it? Beginning before we were born there was pain and heartache in the minds and hearts of our parents and family members. Pain that is the result of Original Sin passing through the generations.
Such pain is far-reaching. This pain renders those who came before us unable to share all the love their souls desire to express – and that we desire to receive. Satan like nothing more than the stop the flow of love inside families my friends. The expression of our gifts becomes compromised when family love is blunted or limited. However, God can, and will, restore what sin has stolen. He will light up your gifts with his blazing fire when you allow his healing love in.
Your gifts produce spiritual fruit and the world needs what you have to offer! Maybe you are an artist, maybe you are good at helping others, maybe you are good at leading others, or maybe you are good at coming up with ideas – the list of the gifts God gives us is long indeed. The more fully you experience the love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the more fully you will be able to express your gifts into the world. And the more fully you and your family will heal.
Our Gifts
Writing a reflection on divine fruits calls me to share a bit of my heart with you. Over my life I have always heard an inner “healer” speak to me. Eventually I came to know this voice – it is Jesus Christ. He continually speaks to me as he guides me to be of service to others on their journey. My gifts serve to help others transform the transgenerational pain they have experienced – pain passed on through the generations. I continually strive to deepen my friendship with Christ with the promise that I will bear fruit for him and him alone. When I surrender to Jesus Christ in this way it feels as if I receive a double (triple? quadruple?…) portion of his love in return! The more I surrender to the gifts he gave me, the more my heart sings. It’s rather amazing.
I invite you to look within and see the gifts God has given you. He wants to use you as a fruit bearing vessel in the world. He will lead and hold you in the healing love you need so that you will bear much good fruit!
The Nine Faces of Struggle
Over the years as a practitioner I have come across what I call The Nine Faces of Struggle. These are common patterns that cause individuals to “get stuck”, unable to fully express and connect with their God-given gifts. I invite you to visit my web-site if you want to learn more. Here is a link: The Nine Faces of Struggle.
Sacred Heart of Jesus – have mercy on us.
Father God – consume us.
Holy Spirit – enter in to us.
Mother Mary – pray for us.
Today’s Readings Acts 122:22-31; Psalm 57: -9, 10 and 12 , 2; Alleluia John: 15:15B; John 15:12-17
My Book – Understanding The Jesus Code
I have created a pdf version for those who seek to read my book, Understanding The Jesus Code, yet have found it is not available via Amazon in their country, or those who are financially unable to obtain a copy. If you are experiencing either issue please email me at DrCarolyn@TheLIVEMethod.com so I can help.
