Forty Days Full - An Invitation To Real Life

you sweeter, just like a sweet, juicy apple that's been ripened in the sun.

Fruit is the result of a long organic and living process. It’s not something made, manufactured or engineered. It requires the right environment. There must be ample water, nutrients from the earth, pollination from other trees and proper sunlight for good fruit to be produced. Ripe, succulent, delicious fruit is the evidence of the right conditions. Evidence of authentic spirituality is the fruit of the Spirit. When we create space for the Holy Spirit to take residence, the result will be beautiful fruit that others can partake of. This evidence of the fruit in our lives is what marks our progress in sanctification. God has been working on our inner man, transforming us by His presence. Paul gives a list of nine fruit in Galatians 5. I don't think Paul was limiting the evidence to only nine specific fruits, but it is the gold standard for what a spirit-filled life looks like. These nine fruits are a great description what the life of Jesus looked like. Fruit is not a description of what we do, rather it is a description of who we are and how we live. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” -Matthew 16:24-25 (NIV) Jesus is giving us a recipe for living as one of His disciples. But according to most the teaching I've heard regarding this text, the emphasis is usually on the personal denial and the cross bearing, rather than on the following. First, Jesus bore his cross and then He hung on that cross in a period that was less than 24 hours. To truly follow his example, we should experience this as an event, a breaking of will and old lifestyle, rather than