Instrumental Reflection on the Fruit of the Spirit

Introducing the new series by Discovery House Music—Fruit of the Spirit. Each album is meant to look at songs based on Galatians 5:22.

Goodness & Faithfulness CD is a collection of 10 instrumental songs includes “Surely Goodness and Mercy,” “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” and other timeless hymns. It offers a powerful expression of God’s steadfast loving kindness and His tender mercy, which is the basis for these fruits to grow in our lives through His Spirit.

Song List:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
Day by Day
His Eye Is on the Sparrow
The Steadfast Love of the Lord
He Leadeth Me
Surely Goodness and Mercy
Blessed Assurance

The CD Love & Joy is a collection of 10 instrumental hymns includes “Love Lifted Me,” “Joy Unspeakable,” and other songs of the faith. It focuses also on God’s love and the joy He supplies through His Spirit to inspire us to live lives of love and good deeds.

 

Song List:

The Wonder of It All
Love Lifted Me
Joy Unspeakable
Medley: My Jesus, I Love Thee / I Love You, Lord
‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
Sweet Sweet Spirit
The Love of God
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Victory in Jesus
We’re Marching to Zion

Both albums are arranged by J. Daniel Smith with selections by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

To order a copy of Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness & Faithfulness, please click here. 

To order a copy of Fruit of the Spirit: Love & Joy, please click here.

Email publicity@dhpinreview.com, if you work in print or broadcast media or have a professional blog/website and would like a review copy.

Pure Desire

Reshaping Our View of Sex and Marriage

When we begin where God begins, we begin to reshape our view of both sex and marriage. God intends the sexual relationship for a particular context. Marriage and sex cannot, in faithfulness to Scripture, be separated. They are inherently connected to one another. The foundational truth is that marriage is not a secular institution, but a divine creation. When our culture attempts to redefine its essential nature as “a permanent relationship between a man and a woman,” it is moving against the grain of the universe as God made it. And we will pay the price.

It is equally clear that gender is not a human construct, but a God-given reality. As we have observed, there are areas where culture deeply and often perversely impacts our understanding of marriage. Nevertheless, we were made “male and female,” and both are required for us to display the image of the triune God. In this regard, we may need to stand in judgment on human culture; we need to stand under the Word of God.

In the same way, Scripture makes it clear that sexual intimacy is a God-given gift, a blessing within its God-intended context (marriage) and for specific purposes, evident in the creation account. One purpose is obviously procreation, the bearing (and raising) of children: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). However, procreation is not even mentioned in chapter 2, so that is not the only or even the supreme purpose of either sexual intimacy or marriage. Sex is also given for connection, the forging of a one-f lesh intimacy, the expression and empowering of the ongoing covenant commitment of a man and a woman. Sexual intercourse within marriage is also a means of knowing and loving, of giving oneself to the other in vulnerable intimacy. And Adam’s delight when he sees his wife is a reminder that sex within marriage is about mutual pleasure, as we shall see even more clearly in the Song of Solomon.

These are wonderful gifts of a loving God. So are fire and water. But fire burning out-of-bounds across tinder-dry California hills destroys lives and homes, as does water when it comes as a torrential downpour. Only the deliberately blind fail to see the catastrophic effects of sexual intimacy outside of God’s boundaries.

In his book The Meaning of Sex, Dennis Hollinger says it well:

Sex has the capacity to enrich a marriage and bond two people together in a way that cements their loyalty and deepens their commitment to each other. At the same time sex has the power to destroy a relationship, become an addiction, manipulate another, and bring illness and even death to a person. Its power for good and ill extends even to the far reaches of culture and society, either building up or tearing engendering decay.7

When we live in conformity to God’s purposes ingrained in creation, we find ourselves in the place that ultimately brings blessing. But rebellion produces something devastatingly different.

_____________

This excerpt was taken from Pure Desire: Moral Sanity in a Sex-Saturated Culture

©2010 by Gary Inrig
All rights reserved.
Discovery House Publishers
Grand Rapids, Michigan.

978-1-57293-383-5
pp. 35-36

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A Heart for God

Help!
I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up

Genesis 2–3; Romans 7:14–25; 16:17–20

The fall of Adam sent curators at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to their knees. But they weren’t repenting of the sin that started in the garden of Eden with the fall of the first Adam. They were lamenting the plunge of a priceless fifteenth-century sculpture from its pedestal, and they were on their knees picking up the fragments.

When the statue fell, it didn’t break into nice neat pieces. The arms, legs, and head separated from the torso in such a way that they could not be glued back together easily. In the words of one restorer, part of Adam was “pulverized.” Experts predicted that it would take two years to piece Adam together again, but they promised he would be almost as good as new by the time he was returned to public view.

Imagine if you were given the dust and particles of Adam and were told to put him back together again. How long do you think it would take? What do you think Adam would look like when you were finished?

Now imagine if the dust tried to reshape itself.

That’s what we attempt to do whenever we try to “restore” ourselves from the effects of the fall. Like the statue, the original Adam and everyone after him has been shattered and pulverized by sin. We all lie in a pile of dust on the floor of creation—splintered emotions, pulverized personality, twisted minds, and broken bodies. And we have only one hope for wholeness—the One who created us. He alone has the knowledge and skill to put us back together.

In Scripture, the categories of heart, soul, mind, and strength are not precise divisions; there is much overlap. For example, the Bible sometimes indicates that thinking happens in the heart (e.g., Zechariah 7:10; Mark 2:8). For the purpose of this study, however, we will use heart, soul, mind, and strength to refer to the following:
Heart: Desires, emotions, feelings
Soul: Being, identity, life, self
Mind: Beliefs, discernment, knowledge, thoughts, truth
Strength: Actions, boldness, courage, enthusiasm, intensity, obedience

1. Read Genesis 3. What tactics did Satan use to get the woman to eat the fruit God had forbidden (vv. 1–5)?

Using the following category descriptions, what appeals did Satan make to her heart, soul, mind, or strength?

Heart
Desires
Emotions
Feelings

Soul
Being
Identity
Life
Self

Mind
Beliefs
Discernment
Knowledge
Thoughts
Truth

Strength
Actions
Boldness
Courage
Enthusiasm
Intensity
Obedience

2. Compare the discussion between Eve and the Serpent (Genesis 3:1–5) with what God really said to Adam (2:15–18). How do the two accounts differ? Since Eve was created after the command was given (v. 18), what can we assume about her knowledge of what God said?

3. Why did Eve disobey God (Genesis 3:6)?

4. What knowledge did Adam and Eve gain (3:7)?

5. What did this new information cause them to do (3:7–8)?

6. Instead of angrily confronting them with their wrongdoing, how did God respond (3:9–13)?

7. How did Adam and Eve defend themselves (3:9–13)?

8. The curse on Eve (3:16) involved her desires. How does this correspond to her sin (3:6)? What did Eve want that she wasn’t supposed to have?

9. The curse on Adam involved his work (3:17–19). How does this correspond to his sin (3:6b)? Whose job was it to guard the tree (2:15–17)?

Fast forward to the first century: The second Adam (Christ) has come to heal our brokenness. However, all is not yet well. Conflicts continue. We are divided not only from one another but within ourselves. The apostle Paul wrote a classic description of this inner turmoil. Read Romans 7:14–25. Using the following chart as a guide, make a list of all the words in this passage that relate to heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Soul
Being
Identity
Life
Self

Mind
Beliefs
Discernment
Knowledge
Thoughts
Truth

Strength
Actions
Boldness
Courage
Enthusiasm
Intensity
Obedience

10. Do you have an internal battle raging between your thoughts and desires? Are you fighting a desire to do something that your mind tells you is wrong? Or are you resisting a conviction to do something that you know is good but don’t want to do? Describe the battle. What do you want the outcome to be?

11. Read Romans 16:17–20. Reread Genesis 3:5 and compare it with Romans 16:20. Here or in your journal write a prayer based on these passages.

May God complete His work of
transformation in our lives by reversing the
effects of the fall and making us wise about
what is good and innocent about what
is evil. Amen.

Taken from A Heart for God: A Companion Bible Study to Above All Love
© 2010 by Julie Ackerman Link
Discovery House Publishers (affiliated with RBC Ministries)
Grand Rapids, Michigan.
978-1-57293-380-4
Pages 9-14

Best Friends with God (Book Excerpt)

God Sends His Love

The Emmaus Travelers 

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8 

I went for a long time, years really, where I couldn’t perceive God’s love for me. In my quest for answers, I often asked my pastor, “How do I know that God loves me?” My pastor always came back to the fact that Christ died for me. While that answer was true, it wasn’t particularly satisfying. Christ died for everyone else, too. God loved “the world,” but did He love me? 

If you have ever wondered, as I have, if God loves you, you know that His love can seem distant and impersonal. We know that somewhere “out there” God loves us, but here and now we struggle to feel God’s love for us. We tend to think of God loving “the world” as in John 3:16. By extension, we acknowledge that we are included in that set, though it seems impersonal. We know that Christ died for us, but He died for everyone else too. 

Seeking an answer to my question, I immersed myself in the study of God’s Word, looking up every verse about God’s love. But while I learned about God’s love, I still didn’t feel it. I could see how God interacted with different people in the Bible so I knew that God loved Abraham, Moses, and David, but did He love me? Then I began to realize that God did not just love them as part of the collective, “the world,” but as individuals. His love was demonstrated in the unique relationship He had with each of them. God interacted in specific ways to respond to their situations: to ease their doubts, to give them faith and courage, or whatever they needed as an individual. 

God wanted to respond to me in the same way. I began to bring Him my doubts, fears, heartaches, and problems. As God responded in specific ways, relating to me personally, no longer felt that God loved me only as part of the collective. God didn’t just love the world; He loved me. 

The question “What’s God done for me lately?” might seem like self-centered ingratitude, but perhaps it  expresses the deepest longing of our heart to be in a relationship that is personally relevant and dynamic. We don’t want a “once upon a time” story about what God did for us two thousand years ago; we want to experience a dynamic relationship with God on a daily basis. We want a page-turner that keeps us engaged from beginning to end with love, drama, constant action, and everpresent hope in spite of impossible circumstances. 

Still, in order for us to experience a dynamic love story today, we must go back two thousand years ago to the events of the cross that made our love relationship with God possible. Two men walking home from Jerusalem discussed the unfolding drama that occurred during the Passover. Jesus, whom they had hoped to be the Messiah, had been crucified, and now there were rumors of His resurrection. On the way, a fellow traveler, a man they didn’t immediately recognize, joined them and explained all the things the Scriptures said concerning the Messiah. The events of this journey are recorded in Luke 24, and while we don’t know the details of the travelers’ dialogue, we do know that they discussed the various promises of God in the Old Testament regarding the Messiah He would send. Like the Emmaus travelers, we will see how the events of Christ’s death and resurrection make it possible to experience a dynamic relationship with God on a daily basis.
_____________________ 

This excerpt was taken from Best Friends with God: Falling in Love with the God Who Loves You 

©2010 by Christy Bower
All rights reserved.
Discovery House Publishers
Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

978-1-57293-372-9
pp. 7-9 

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I DO (Book Excerpt)

Reading 11

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God
as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid
because I was naked; so I hid.”

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

And the man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:8–13

The bad news is that sin always makes us want to hide—from God and from each other. We don’t like admitting we are wrong, so we hide, blame each other, or make excuses. God wants us to come out in the open and face up to our mistakes.

The good news is that God is always out there looking for us, calling “Where are you?” God knew where Adam was. But He wanted Adam to know where he was and face up to what he had done. God has a remedy for mistakes and wrong choices. From the very beginning it seems clear that God is in the business of restoring people to fellowship.

Wisdom tells you to keep short accounts with each other in the face of misunderstandings or wrongs done in marriage. But scared humanness still wants to hide or blame. It’s the difference between being open with each other or closed.

If you want a happy marriage (and life with God!) you will learn how to settle all misunderstandings and wrongs quickly. You have to stop wearing your own designer fig leaves. What have you to lose by admitting you were wrong?

Love covers sin, yet love also exposes sin. Love is responsible; it has an abiding quality. It will never be transformed into something better, for it is itself the
transforming power. Love begets love. Love knows no age limit; love never ends.

Forgiveness is God’s gracious gift of love to you. God is getting you ready for heaven where you will know perfection. But right now He wants you to start with honesty.

Marriage is full of opportunities to love and to extend grace to each other. Both of you are imperfect. When you keep on loving and extending grace, you are living out the image of God in you.

• What do you still need to learn about handling guilt?

• How can you keep from handling resentments in sneaky ways?

• How sure are you of God’s forgiveness of your sins?

Prayer: Father God, thank you for calling out to find us wherever we are. Help us to be honest with you and with each other, unafraid to admit wrong and to ask forgiveness. Give us open faces and open hearts. Thanks that failure is not final with you. Amen.
____________________________

This excerpt was taken from I DO: 30 Readings to Inspire Love and Conversation About Important Issues in Marriage.

©2010 by Gladys Hunt and Keith Hunt
All rights reserved.
Discovery House Publishers
Grand Rapids, Michigan.

978-1-57293-377-4
pp. 56-58

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Are You Living Life Alive?

In the movie Meet Joe Black, Death comes to life (an odd phrase, don’t you think?) in order to, simply put, try to understand what the big deal is all about. He compels a man with a potentially fatal heart condition to instruct and mentor him in life, to understand why human beings cling to life with every ounce of strength they have. In the end, the character that represents Death discovers love  and life and realizes the power that life has-but he nevertheless returns to being Death-a taker rather than a giver of life.

When Jesus Christ came into the world, He declared that His mission statement was not about death but about life! Hear His words:

• “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John10:10, emphasis added).
• “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25-26, emphasis added).
• “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6, emphasis added).

The Christ kept His Word and provided the rescue He had promised. In fulfilling His mission, He did the impossible by taking dead people and making them living persons. This is the victory of Calvary. The victory of love and the victory of life-changing grace is secured and made possible by the love that holds us in its arms and won’t let go.

It was George Matheson who wrote the hymn “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.” Of his hymn of devotion, Matheson wrote:

My hymn was composed in the manse of Innelan (Argyleshire, Scotland) on the evening of the 6th of June, 1882, when I was 40 years of age. I was alone in the manse at that time. It was the night of my sister’s marriage, and the rest of the family were staying overnight in Glasgow. Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some inward voice rather than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have ever written are manufactured articles; this came like a dayspring from on high.

That is the heart of George Matheson, and it is the heart of Mary of Magdalene as well. Her identity may have been misrepresented over the years, but her witness is clear, and her devotion is unmistakable. It is a declaration of the glory of the cross and the power of the resurrection. It is the wonder of the Christ and what He does to change one single, individual, eternal life. And that is the pulse of the powerful witness Mary gives of the Savior who died and rose again that we could have forgiveness and life. Matheson’s hymn ends:

“Life that shall endless be.” Not death-life. May we, like Mary Magdalene, go forth to be living witnesses of the living Lord Jesus Christ who killed death dead so we could live life alive.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

 

Taken from The Path of His Passion
©2006 by Bill Crowder
All rights reserved.