The Fruit of the Spirit: Be Kind
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick The fifth fruit of the Spirit is kindness. The dictionary definition of kindness is “the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.” What a rich word! In the Greek language (chrestotes), it is defined as excellence or uprightness. Kindness is a fruit that is mostly directed toward another person. Generally speaking, kindness is meant to benefit those who are in our immediate circle and those around the world. Kindness is what drives the bride of Christ to serve and to give our lives away. Kindness is what compels us to a life of sacrifice. Jesus calls his...
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The Fruit of the Spirit: Patience is a Virtue…
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Patience is a virtue… but it’s also a fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit are an all for one and one for all package deal. Once you abide in Christ and Christ in you, you will bear much fruit (John 15:5). When we are abiding with Jesus, connected to the Spirit, we will operate in patience. The word patience in the Greek is makrothymia. It means long suffering or fortitude. It implies a willingness to be willing to wait in spite of what our eyes can see. In the Amplified Bible, patience is described not as “the ability to wait, but how we act while...
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The Fruit of the Spirit: “Peace I Leave With You”
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick The third fruit of the Spirit is peace. The movie Sister Act 2 has an incredible scene where the nuns perform the song “Ball of Confusion” in a nursing home. Every time I hear this song, I’m reminded that the chaos of humanity has always existed. There has never been a time in history where the devil has not desired to release a ball of confusion all over the world. As the song says, “So, round and around and around we go. Where the world’s headed, nobody knows.” But in the midst of chaos, Jesus entered the chaos of this world and said, “Peace I leave with you;...
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The Fruit of the Spirit: Choose Joy
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Joy is a choice. As our church’s worship leader says in one of the “I will choose joy!” This one doesn’t always come naturally. Without Jesus, it can feel impossible to walk in joy in the midst of this broken world. Remember, where one fruit is present, all nine are present. They are interdependent. But I do love the order because love and joy walk hand in hand. Joy proves that our affections are rightly aligned with God’s will. Joy flows out of a heart that loves him. When you are so intimate with the Father in heaven and his Son, Jesus, the Spirit gives our...
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The Fruit of the Spirit: First Comes Love
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick When you have an intimate connection with Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit is evident. The overflow of a Spirit-filled life is a Spirit-led life where the fruit of the spirit from Galatians 5:22-23 are found in ample supply. The first fruit of the Spirit is love. Love is the first fruit of Godly attributes and character found in the life of a believer. I find it so significant that love appears first. The Greek word here is agape. It means unconditional acceptance of another person just the way he or she is. No strings attached. The word agape is used to describe...
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The Fruit of the Spirit: An Introduction
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick The fruit of the Spirit is one of my favorite things to teach. In fact, every time I think about this topic, I immediately flash back to my daughter Bethany’s 6th birthday party. It was a “fruit of the Spirit” themed party. I dressed up as her favorite character called “Sunny Love Tree” and each child who came to the party was given a different fruit of the spirit. That party was one for the books! Much like I, as a Father, long to see my children walking in the light, Jesus longs to see his followers abiding in him. A life that displays the fruit of the Spirit is a...
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Fasting for Breakthrough: Guard Your Dream
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick We’re wrapping up our series on “Fasting.” I hope you’ve experienced a breakthrough in some area where you've felt stuck. The Bible encourages us to pray and fast when we encounter stubborn resistance. Could it be that some battles are harder than others because the enemy knows the stakes are so high? My epiphany came one day in a parking lot, of all places. I was heading home after a quick run for coffee with my husband. From a distance, we saw what appeared to be an aggressive bird battle under some nearby cedar trees. As we got closer, we saw the target of this...
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Fasting for Breakthrough: Are You Dangerous to the Devil?
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick "Fasting is a little scary," remarked a friend who had decided to fast for the first time. She's right. Whether it's food, a favorite treat, social media or shopping, giving up something we depend upon can leave us feeling empty. Thirsty. Maybe that's why fasting is so powerful. I'm forced to switch my lifeline from food (or whatever) to God himself. I find myself hungrier for his Word and more receptive to his voice. Even Jesus chose to fast before his duel in the desert with the devil. He had just been baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, God spoke from...
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Fasting for Breakthrough: Breakthrough in Broken Places
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick Fasting can be a powerful weapon in our prayer arsenal. Though I still have much to learn, I have noticed how fasting adds strength and precision to my prayers. The combination of fasting and prayer is like a one-two punch that has resulted in several spiritual breakthroughs in long-standing problems. But the most powerful testimonies I’ve ever heard about fasting came in a most unlikely place. The lesson is one I have never forgotten. Some time ago, David and I were invited to teach a group of men and women church leaders in Burundi on the subject of prayer. Burundi is...
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Fasting for Breakthrough: How Esther Saved a Nation (Part 2)
A Moment of Hope
Continued from yesterday… God is never actually mentioned by name in the book of Esther. But throughout the story, we see Esther quietly responding to what I believe must surely have been God’s whispers. I don’t think the Lord would have entrusted the very survival of the entire nation of Israel into the hands of a teenager unless he knew she would listen and obey. Training our heart to hear God’s voice is one of our most important jobs as believers. We do this primarily through reading God’s Word and spending time in prayer. But for some reason, fasting helps us depend on God and...
info_outlineby Marilynn Chadwick
Have you ever faced a trial so painful you couldn’t endure the weight of it? A trial so dark that the enemy taunts you with lies whispered in the dark: God is not listening to your prayers. Why else would He seem so silent?
When all seems hopeless, I find encouragement from believers who have passed through the furnace and come forth with faith shining. Their stories inspire me to hold onto my hope. I want to share one such story with you.
I met Ange during one of my first missions trips to Rwanda. Most everyone I met was a genocide survivor with a hard story to tell. But it was Ange’s journey of agony-turned-into-hope that gripped my soul.
Ange was in high school when genocide broke out in Rwanda in 1994. She and fiancé, Emanuel, fled on foot to the neighboring Congo. They married and had baby Edna. The brutal war spilled over into the Congo. Soldiers attacked their refugee camp and Emanuel and Ange, with eighteen-month-old Edna on her back, ran terrified into the forest. They became separated as they fled for their lives.
A few days later while Ange was gathering firewood, soldiers kidnapped little Edna. Ange ran frantically through the forest searching for the soldiers. She discovered the baby had become sick and died. Ange’s heart and her hope were shattered. She hid in the forest for weeks with no clean water, food, fire, or shelter. As she describes it, “It was like we were dead, but still living.”
Ange made her way to Kenya with the help of a relief organization, still searching for her husband Emanuel. She cried out, “Oh God, You know my beloved first born was taken away. And you know how I could be happy if I could find my beloved husband! Please Lord, I hope you have not forgotten me.” Ange continued to seek God’s purpose for her own life while she waited for her dream to be fulfilled. Sensing a call to ministry, she began attending Bible college in Kenya.
God gave Ange hope, encouraging her with these words: We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:3-5).
Ange continues her story, “One day, I received the amazing news that my husband was alive! It was like a dream! I stayed up all night praising and thanking God!” After eight long years, Ange and Emanuel were finally reunited on November 14, 2004. God soon blessed them with a baby boy they called Cherubim. When I first met Ange and heard her story in 2008, she had just given birth to twins Joshua and Geoffrey.
Ange loves to encourage others to hold onto their faith when times look darkest. I hope you will be strengthened by her story and this prayer from her heart to yours: “May God bless you and help you to be patient in every situation you may pass through. Glory be to the Lord JESUS. Amen!”
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This Moment of Hope is adapted from Woman of Valor, Discovering the Courage and Strength God Gave You, by Marilynn Chadwick. For more inspiration or to order the newly Revised Edition of this book, please click here.