Introduction

Our "Read.Pray.Worship.Live." series of studies is nearing a close as we have reached the final lesson in this group of teachings. We began this study with the intent that it would serve as a foundation for walking out the Christian life, setting the groundwork to grow from spiritual infancy and equipping you with some of the necessities in order to achieve spiritual maturity. Our basis for doing this began with the Smaller Westminster Catechism and its initial question of "what is the chief end of man?" We discovered that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. The teachings that came in this series were all pointed at showing how we can glorify God and enjoy all that He is by properly living the Christian life.

We started our four part series with a lesson titled A Heart to Study God's Word, which laid the foundation upon which everything else would be built. This study looked at the authenticity and authority of the Bible, as well as how it is our primary tool in beginning to understand who God is and how we are able to glorify Him with our lives. From there, we moved forward with a study on the topic of prayer titled Prayer God's Way; in this particular study, we glanced at the basics of prayer and then took an in-depth look at the prayer model that Jesus gave to His disciples. Our third study was centered on the concept of worship and looking at what it means to truly worship God, as we engaged in a study teaching us how to be Living Sacrifices. As it stands, we're three-quarters of the way through this series with only a single piece remaining.

The final study in the "Read.Pray.Worship.Live." series is all about putting the pieces together and living out a life of worship. It's great having a systematic study of the Scriptures, a diligent prayer life, and an understanding of worship; but, if none of those are put into practical application, then it means absolutely nothing. The Christian life is all about walking out what you've learned, and that requires action. That's what we're going to deal with in this lesson; we're going to learn how to take everything we've accumulated in our previous studies and live a life that is purposeful in glorifying God. Hence, the title of this lesson, Walking Worthy: Living Out a Life of Worship.

Walking Worthy

Every person that walks the face of this earth should have a desire to glorify their Creator. The sad reality is that the vast majority don't, nor do they even have a desire to do so. They are depraved as a result of their sin nature and do not seek after God. For those that have had an encounter with the life changing message of the gospel, that is a completely different story. Those that have put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior have a different perspective on things. As we learned in our lesson on worship, there are countless mercies that God has provided to us, and our response to those mercies is to worship Him by being living sacrifices. In a way, you could say that we have a desire to want to thank God and show Him our gratitude for all that He has done for us. In other words, you could say that believers want to live a life that is worthy of the gospel that saved them; they now choose to live a life that is pleasing to God. This should be the lifework of every single believer, to walk worthy of the gospel.

What does walking worthy of the gospel mean? Simply put, it is living a life of holiness that lines up with the Scriptures and is pleasing to our Father in heaven. This isn't just a concept that is being pulled out of thin air, though; instead, it is a key New Testament concept that needs to be understood by all Christians, especially new believers, as it is the call of every child of God. Let us open our Bibles to Colossians 1:10 as we begin a walk through the Scriptures to show what it means to walk worthy and then illustrate the practical outworking of it.

Colossians 1:10 - so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

As we can see, just from this verse, we have a pretty clear definition of what it means to walk worthy. According to this verse, walking worthy means that we are living in a manner that seeks to please God in all respects and is consistent with the identification that we have of the Lord who saved us. Furthermore, it is a life that bears fruit. This means that there is growth and signs that are consistent with advancement and maturity in the Christian's life. This passage also tells us that walking worthy is an act that involves increasing in our knowledge of God. That can only mean that we are studying and praying all the more as we live our lives. As we learned in our first study, the Bible is our source for knowing God, and our worship study showed that it is through a study of the Bible that we're able to understand His mercies and fuel our worship. To sum all of this up, we could say that this is a life that is walking in obedience to the Holy Spirit. If it's not already evident, the picture formed by our "puzzle" is starting to become clear as we see how connected each of these studies are to one another.

If Colossians 1:10 wasn't enough, there are several other passages that speak of walking worthy of the gospel, and they include: Ephesians 4:1; Philippians 1:27; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; and Titus 2:12. Each of these passages are equally important in understanding what it means to walk worthy, so we will take a look at each of them individually. Let us begin with Ephesians and see what Paul had to say to the believers in Ephesus.

Ephesians 4:1 - Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

There isn't a whole lot here that hasn't already been said by the Apostle in his letter to the Colossians, but there are some distinctions worth pointing out. The first thing that is noteworthy is that he implores the Ephesians; this is the same Greek word that Paul uses in Romans 12:1 when he "urges" the Romans to be living sacrifices as a result of the mercies of God. In much the same way, Paul is not only telling the Ephesians that they should walk worthy of the gospel, but he is strongly urging them that this is something they need to do. The fact that Paul is imploring them to walk this way is an indication of its importance in the life of the believer. This isn't one of those things where you can either take it or leave it, but it is a word to be heeded. Secondly, it is key to note that we have been called to live this Christian life. It was the drawing of the Holy Spirit that led us to faith in Christ, which means that this isn't something that we decided to do on our own. Before the foundations of the world we were predestined and chosen to walk in a manner worthy of the calling that we've been given. So, not only are we urged to walk this way, but we were chosen to do so.

We will skip over our Philippians passage for now, as we will be giving that passage a closer look later on in this study. So , let's move on to our passage in 1 Thessalonians, which is a good passage to look at.

1 Thessalonians 2:12 - so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

At first glance, this looks very similar to our Ephesians passage, and that is rightfully so. Not leaving it there though, let us look at this passage in context and draw out some further application. If we go back up a few verses to verse 9 and following, we will find out what's being talked about and see what makes this verse so relevant and necessary. In this passage, Paul is recalling the lifestyle and message that he portrayed before these Thessalonian believers; he reminds them of how he and those that were with him lived a devout and upright life before them, as well as proclaiming the truth of the gospel. He even goes on to state that he encouraged and exhorted them in regard to matters of the faith, much like a father would with his child. Since this is the life that Paul presented them with, he then states, in verse 12, that they should also walk in the same manner, which is a life worthy of the God who called them to eternal salvation. If there is a common theme between these passages, it is that they all speak of the godly example given and the corresponding mandate to live in the same manner.

With that in view, we can move on to our passage in Titus. This passage doesn't necessarily speak of a mandate to live worthy, but it tells of the purpose for being called and its resulting work. Let's go to our passage.

Titus 2:11-12 - 11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age

As we can see, after salvation we are to be instructed on how to walk worthy of the gospel. How is this done? It's done by being instructed on how to resist and turn away from anything that is not of God, along with all of our worldly desires. From there, we are to live a sensible life that corresponds with the truths of Scripture and produces righteous living. How do we get instructed? Well, again, that goes back to the first study in our series; we get our instruction from the Word of God where passages like 2 Timothy 3:16 tell us that all Scripture is profitable for teaching, reproving, correcting, and training. Therefore, the more we study the Bible and sit under teaching, the more we will receive the instruction that we need to both turn away from ungodliness and to begin to live a life of righteousness. When we do that, we will live a life that is worthy of the gospel.

To summarize these passages, we could say that this is the culmination of every other part of this series. It is showing how we take the concepts from the previous studies and live them out on a daily basis. Walking worthy is also the fruit that is born from studying the Bible, prayer, and worship. And that is what we want to look at next; we want to look at the fruit that we're supposed to bear as we live the Christian life.

Bearing Fruit

When looking at Colossians 1:10, you will notice that Paul spoke of bearing fruit. Well, spiritual fruit is the natural by-product of living this kind of life. One of the ways that you can tell a Christian from a non-Christian is the fruit that they are producing in their life. Jesus tells us in Luke 6:43, 44 (cp. Matthew 7:16-20) that good trees produce good fruit, and that you know what kind of tree you're dealing with by the fruit that it grows. You can know that a tree is an apple tree because you will find apples growing on it; and, you're not going to find oranges growing on a cherry tree. Even though His teaching was under a different set of circumstances, it still has Church Age application; we are able to recognize a Christian by the fruit that their life is producing, which includes both deeds and character. The logical question then becomes, what kind of fruit should we be bearing? This is what we're going to take a look at in this section, as we look at some of the things that Scripture considers to be fruit.

Before we get into that, though, I want us to first take a look at something important when it comes to bearing fruit. As God's elect, we are His [God's] first fruit. Where do we get this from? We can find our first answer in James 1:18 where we find the words, "In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures." In many respects, what James is talking about here is the call of believers to salvation; and, as a result of our salvation, we become God's own first fruits in and through His Son Jesus Christ. Since a full development on this passage is outside the scope of this study, please refer to our James devotion series for further study. Not only are we God's first fruit, but we are also filled with fruit that comes from God. If we flip over to Philippians 1:11, we find this truth when it says, "having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." What we find here is Paul telling us that, as believers, we have been filled with a fruit of righteousness that is not our own, but comes from God through Jesus. The purpose of this fruit is so that we can glorify and praise God by producing more fruit and walking complimentary to the will of God.

With that in place, let's get back to the original question; what kind of fruit should we be bearing? The Bible gives us a clear indication of the types of fruit that we should be bearing and they include: 1) leading others to Christ (1 Corinthians 16:15), 2) praising God (Hebrews 13:15), 3) giving money (Romans 15:26-28), 4) living a godly life (Hebrews 12:11), and 5) displaying holy attitudes (Galatians 5:22, 23). All of these, for the most part, should appear to be pretty obvious fruits and an indication of someone who has been redeemed. Let's take a brief look at each of these types of fruit.

1) Leading Others to Christ

This one is pretty straightforward when you think about it. Once you understand the good news of the gospel and what you were saved from, you can't help but to tell others about the gospel so that they can experience the same joy. It's a lot like when we find a sale or a good deal somewhere, we just have to tell someone else about it so that they can partake in it as well. The gospel is the same way, and it's a message that we should want to share with everyone. Going to the passage in 1 Corinthians (16:15), we find that Paul refers to the household of Stephanas as "the first fruits of Achaia." What Paul means by this is that they were the first household to come to salvation in Achaia after the gospel was preached to them. So, quite logically, we can understand that every believer born into the Kingdom of God is fruit being born. There really isn't much more to say here other than the fact that this is a great fruit to bear because leading souls to Christ is one of the greatest things that we can do.

2) Praising God

Again, this one should be pretty obvious to us. If we just go back to our purpose for this study, we will find that our intent is to learn how to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Well, a good portion of glorifying God includes giving Him praise. Hebrews 13:15 reads, "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name." As we can see from this verse, worship is not simply living our lives, but it also includes verbalizing His greatness. A few ways that we can do this include: evangelism, singing songs or hymns, preaching and teaching, praying, just talking about the goodness of God, and so on. There are many ways by which we can do this, but the bottom line is that we just need to open up our mouths and speak the truth about God. When we do that we are giving Him the praise that He so greatly deserves and this praise is a fruit that we bear in our lives.

3) Giving Money

Not only can we to lead others to Christ and praise God, but another fruit of our lives can be giving money. Giving money?! Yes, giving money. In Romans 15:26-28 we find Paul talking about the gift that was given by those in Macedonia and Achaia to help in supporting the poor believers in Jerusalem, and he refers to this financial gift as a fruit. The application for this can be taken in a few different lights. First, we find that it's fruitful for us to give to the church and other believers, especially where there is a need that needs to be filled. Secondly, we bear fruit when we take the time to help others in need, even if it isn't financially. If we have the means and ability to help others, then we should do so, lest we be like the person James describes in James 2:15-16. When we do either of these, we are showing that we are not self-centered and that we have a heart for God's people, doing a work as unto Christ (Matthew 25:40).

4) Living a Godly Life

Points four and five are closely related in that they speak of the sum total of the Christian life. We will look at point four here, which is all about living a godly life and that being a fruit in and of itself. Support for this can be found in Hebrews 12:11. The passage states, "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." The intent of this passage is to tell us that the end result of our trials is a fruit of righteousness that is enveloped in peace. What does that mean? It means that we're going to face trials, but as we overcome them we're producing a fruit of righteousness through our godly living (Philippians 1:11 again). Along with that fruit is peace; we have peace because we know what we're able to overcome and find our rest in the Lord. When that happens, the sum total of the fruit and peace is a fruit that results in living a godly life that is able to overcome the flesh and sin.

5) Displaying Holy Attitudes

The final fruit that we're going to look at is displaying holy attitudes. To many believers, this is better known as the fruit of the Spirit, which we find in Galatians 5:22, 23. The passage reads as such, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Each trait that is listed in Galatians is a character or attitude that we should have as believers. When we are able to live out each of these traits in our lives then we are truly walking in the Spirit, living a life that is worthy of the gospel. As such, we will spend a significant portion of our time looking at the second half of Galatians 5 (vv. 16-25) in order to get a proper understanding of what it means to walk in the Spirit and how that relates to walking worthy of the gospel; this is what our next section will deal with as we expand this fifth point.

Walking in the Spirit

Now that we have looked at some of the fruit that should be characteristic of believers, let us return to what it means to walk worthy of the gospel by turning our attention to the latter half of Galatians 5. If it hasn't already been made clear thus far, when I say that we need to walk worthy of the gospel, I'm saying that we need to walk in, by, and according to the Holy Spirit. Living a life that is befitting of the Good News is all about lining up with the will of God by following the direction of the Holy Spirit as He leads us. He is the One who teaches and directs us in all matters of holiness; therefore, when we walk in accordance with His ways, our lives are considered to be worthy of the gospel and consumed with worship unto God.

With that being said, walking in the Spirit is a volitional (or voluntary) choice that we make day by day and moment by moment. This isn't just the unsaved that we're talking about having to make choices whether to do right or wrong; we are talking about those who have put their faith in Christ. As Christians, we have to choose to either walk according to the Spirit or give in to our fleshly desires and go the route of carnality. This is why we have turned our Bibles to Galatians 5; this is probably one of the greatest passages of Scripture for teaching believers how to walk in the Spirit. In looking at this passage, there are a handful of points that we're going to extract, so let's go ahead and first take a look at the passage in its entirety.

Galatians 5:16-25 - 16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

It's a Choice

As we begin with verse 16, our first point is recognizing that walking in and by the Spirit is a choice that is ours to make. Where do we get this point? The verse begins with "walk by the Spirit," which is a command that Paul is giving us. Just as with any command or urging, we have the freedom to either obey or disobey, and the same holds true here; we can either obey and walk by the Spirit, or we can disobey and face the consequences. The Holy Spirit isn't going to force Himself upon us and make us walk according to His ways; we have to willingly choose to keep our flesh in its rightful place and follow the Spirit.

Making the choice to walk by the Spirit comes with some benefits, as we see in the remainder of the verse. The rest of verse 16

> explains that as long as we're walking by the Spirit we will not give in to the desires of our flesh. What significance does that have? Well, think for a moment to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24 where He tells us that we cannot serve two masters because we'll love the one and hate the other. The same holds true here, as is evident when we bring verse 17 into the mix. From this verse we see very clearly that the flesh and the Spirit are in opposition to one another; therefore, if you're siding with one, you're putting yourself against the other, much like the words of Jesus. That is why Paul can say that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh if we are walking by the Spirit. We can also parallel this with what Paul wrote in Romans 6 when addressing the believers of Rome; in this chapter he contrasts giving over our bodies as either slaves to unrighteousness (the flesh) or slaves to righteousness (walking by the Spirit), it's a choice that we make.

Before we continue any further, there is an important distinction that we need to make. When we are contrasting the difference between walking in the Spirit and walking according to the flesh, we are not talking about losing your salvation when you choose to walk in the flesh. As believers, we have eternal security and we cannot lose our salvation whatsoever. With that being the case, we still have the choice to make whether we are going to walk in the Spirit and be in fellowship with Him or be in carnality walking according to the ways of our flesh. This is what Paul is talking about in this passage, and what we're talking about in this study. We are not saying that you are going to lose your salvation if you become a "carnal Christian," but what we are saying is that it's going to hinder your relationship with God and your spiritual growth. We can compare this, again, with the words of Paul when he was writing to the church in Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-6 Paul states the following:

1 Corinthians 10:1-6 - 1For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3and all ate the same spiritual food; 4and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. 6Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.

In this passage, we find Paul talking about the children of Israel during their period in the wilderness. During that time, God performed all kinds of signs and miracles for them, as proof that He was indeed their God and with them; yet, they still chose to walk in a manner that wasn't pleasing to God. As you read on in the following verses you can see illustrations of what they did that didn't please the Lord. Now, in all of this, they were still the children of God and none of what they did had any bearing on their standing before the Lord; they were still Old Testament believers. Yet, we find in verse 5, that even with their status as Old Testament believers, God was still displeased with them because of what they did. As a result of their disobedience and choosing to walk in carnality during the wilderness period, none of them, except for Joshua and Caleb, were able to enter into the Promised Land that God had given to them. The same thing holds true for us today as Church Age believers; if we choose to walk in carnality, we will find that God is not pleased with us and we will not be able to enter in to the things that He has prepared for us. This is why verse 6 is so important; this verse tells us that these events were recorded in Scripture so that we could learn from them. We see the results of the exodus generation's negative example, so why would we then choose to walk down the same path? Remember, our purpose is to glorify God, and we cannot do that if He is not pleased with us.

All of that is to say this: the choice to walk in the Spirit is ours. We are given the conscious and volitional ability everyday to choose to walk in the Spirit or the flesh. In closing out this section, let us remember the words of James in James 4:4 when he says, "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." Let us choose daily to be friends of God.

Not Law, but Grace

Moving on now to verse 18, we find Paul continuing to talk about being led by the Spirit; but, in this instance, he gives us a very interesting statement to ponder. He states that if we are led by the Spirit, then we are not under the Law. What does that mean?! In many respects, this is simply a reiteration of what he had already stated in the previous two verses, but just in a different manner. In looking at this statement, we find an "if this, then that" statement. If this is true, then that is true also; and the inverse is true also. In this instance, the this is the fact of being led by the Spirit of God. If we live lives that are led by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God then the statement that follows will be true. The statement that follows is that we are not under the Law. Let's break that down, and to do that, we're going to bring in other passages of Scripture and allow Scripture to interpret itself.

The first passage that we want to look at is Romans 7:4 which reads, "Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." From reading this verse, we can understand that through the work of Jesus Christ, believers in Him are made dead to the Law (and to sin). No longer are we subject to the Law in our unrighteousness, but we are joined together with the righteousness of Christ and made free from the Law. Let us now join that together with 1 Timothy 1:9, which says, "realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers." Realizing that through Christ we are made righteous, we see here in 1 Timothy that those who are righteous have no need of the Law. Instead, the Law is made for those who are ungodly and sinners, as we once were.

To further clarify, let's understand what the Law is and what it means to be free from it. The Law, in its simplest terms, is God's standard or His set of rules. A good place to start in looking at the Law is the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), of which we are all guilty of breaking (Romans 3:23). As breakers of that Law, we are now subject to it and the consequences that come with breaking that Law, which is eternal death (Romans 6:23). Therefore, to be free from the Law or to "not be under the Law" means that we are no longer subject to the penalty of the Law. When we put our faith in Christ and choose to be led by the Spirit, we are no longer subject to the Law's consequences. That means that you are walking out a life of righ

teous behavior and not doing the things that the Law prohibits.

Another piece to add is that just because we are Christians and free from the Law, that does not give us the liberty to go out and do all of those things that are against the Law. Remember, the Law is God's standard of righteousness, and as believers it is our desire to please Him; and, as a gesture of our thankfulness for saving us from the penalty of the Law, we should want to do any and everything that is going to please Him, which includes keeping His Law.

So, in essence, what Paul is saying here is that if we are led by the Spirit, instead of choosing to live according to the flesh, we no longer have to worry about the Law and its consequences.

Walking in the Flesh

After telling the Galatians to walk by the Spirit and explaining what he meant by that, Paul then decides to run down a laundry list of what it looks like if you choose to walk in the flesh; he does this in verses 19-21. As he states in verse 19, "the deeds of the flesh are evident," so we are not going to spend any significant amount of time investigating them. Our focus is on walking in the Spirit, and we all know what sin is, so it's not really necessary. In looking at the list that Paul gives, it's pretty apparent that each of us has been involved with these sins at some point in time, and some of us may still struggle with certain ones.

Without completely ignoring this section, there are a few points that we want to extract. The first thing that we want to notice is that Paul had already forewarned the Galatians about these sins and told them to not get involved with them. The same is true for us; we have been told many times not to do certain things, and each time there was a reason for the warning. It's just like you tell your children to not do drugs or smoke cigarettes. You tell them of the consequences, but that doesn't mean that they won't be tempted to partake in such things. In hopes that they won't give in, the parent constantly tells their child of the dangers of being involved in such things. Even if they give in, the warning still bears repeating. This is what's happening here, Paul is simply reiterating his warning so that they are continually aware of the sins that they can easily get entangled with.

The second point that we want to note is his reason for warning them about these sins. He tells them that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. That's an important concept for us to grasp. This is not telling us that if we commit these sins that we're going to hell, not at all (at least not believers). What this passage is showing us is that frequency and familiarity are indicators of your salvation state. A person who has not accepted Christ is going to be someone who habitually does these kinds of things without even thinking twice about it; they love to do it and they have no intentions of stopping. The believer, on the other hand, may still find himself involved with these sins, but it is not something that he habitually does; and, when he does commit these sins, he is quick to repent and seek forgiveness from God. Hence, Paul is saying that those who continually practice sin are those who are unrepentant with hardened hearts towards God and will not enter into His Kingdom. For us, as believers, this should serve as a personal inventory as to whether our lives lines up with the Word of God or not.

Fruit of the Spirit

Just as walking in the flesh had certain characteristics and traits, those who walk in the Spirit will also exhibit particular character traits, which we call the fruit of the Spirit. In verses 22 and 23, Paul gives us a list of what the fruit of the Spirit are:

Galatians 5:22, 23 - 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

What does it mean to have this fruit of the Spirit? Quite simply, if our lives consist of these traits, then we are walking by the Spirit and living a life that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Unlike the deeds of the flesh, these are positive traits and ones that every believer should strive to have as a part of their life. Each piece of the fruit plays a vital role in the life of the Christian and helps to prove that we are indeed children of God. We will look at each of these traits individually and see how we can apply them to our lives on a daily basis.

Love

The love that we're talking about here is agapē. When we talk about agapē, we're not talking about some kind of emotional affection, physical attraction, or family bond (of which the Greek uses other words to describe); instead, we're referring to respect, devotion, and an affection that leads to willing self-sacrificial service. In other words, we're talking about a love that is willing to put its own desires and needs aside for the sake of serving others. This is the love that God the Father had for us when He chose to send His Son on our behalf (John 3:16). This is the same love that Jesus Christ demonstrated while He walked during His earthly ministry. Agapē is the kind of love that every Christian should have, as it is the kind of love that is completely unconditional and without any strings attached. When we have this kind of love, we are willing to serve others without looking to get anything in return, and doing it primarily to display the same kind of love towards others that God has so graciously shown towards us (one of his mercies). Other passages that talk about this kind of love can be found in John 15:13; Romans 5:8; and 1 John 3:16, 17.

Joy

The next character trait that we should have is joy. Unlike the emotional feeling of happiness, which can change as quickly as the weather, joy is based upon God's divine promises and eternal realities. Joy isn't that feeling that you get when everything is going right for you; joy is a feeling that remains constant, even when the world seems to be caving in around you (John 16:20-22). It can be described as a sense of well being that comes by knowing that our relationship with the Lord is where it needs to be (1 Peter 1:8). What's more, joy is a gift that we are given by God Himself, as opposed to something that we conjure up on our own; it's a blessing that we are to delight in because we already possess it (Romans 14:7; Philippians 4:4). In practical application, joy is a consistent feeling of happiness regardless of what is going on around us; whether things are going good or bad, our attitude remains positive and consistent because we are able to trust in the promises of the Lord. Just like with the economy right now, when everyone else is stressing out, we can still have joy because we know who our Father in heaven is, knowing that He will provide.

Peace

Peace is the inner calm that comes from having a confidence and trust in our relationship with Jesus Christ. This character trait is very closely related with joy, because it is another one that does not change based upon our circumstances. In a sense, we can look at peace as "having it all together," not fearing or simply being content with where we are. Ultimately, though, our peace comes from knowing that we have salvation because of Jesus. Even

if we have nothing else, we can have peace knowing that we have been saved from eternal torment in hell. With that as a foundation, we should be able to allow that same peace to permeate into every other area of our lives. A few passages to look at that correspond with this would be John 14:27; Romans 8:28; and Philippians 4:6, 7, 9.

Patience

Everyone should know what patience is, especially if you have children. In a spiritual sense, patience is defined as the ability to endure wrongdoing from others and the wherewithal to accept difficult or painful situations (Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:12; 1 Timothy 1:15, 16). In other words, don't be a quitter and tough it out. Patience is one of those things that we all need to learn to have because it's something that we face often. There are teachers or bosses that give us a hard time; we need to have the patience to deal with those situations even though they may be difficult to face. If you have kids, you know that they can try your last nerve, but you have to exercise patience in dealing with them. In all these cases, patience is a must. Sure, the world has its ways of teaching us to have patience, but, as believers, we have the supernatural empowerment to go above and beyond what the world is able to endure. So patience isn't just going through difficult times, but being able to accept them and having the strength to stand strong throughout.

Kindness

This is a sincere concern for others which is shown by a desire to treat others in a gentle manner. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, treated people with kindness throughout His earthly ministry; just look at all the sick He healed and His willingness to accept the downcast of society. This is the same kind of kindness that we should have towards others. Again, our greatest example of this lived out is in Jesus Christ and He should be our model, just as we see in Matthew 11:28, 29 and 19:13, 14. Just as He was able to be kind to all people, we must do the same. For us, that can be doing the little things like giving a helping hand, taking time to listen to someone, buying someone's lunch; the number of things we can do are endless, but we should be kind to all people, whether they're kind to us or not.

Goodness

Very closely related to the previous fruit, goodness is moral and spiritual excellence that manifests itself in active acts of kindness. As believers, this is something that we should exemplify, as we receive instruction to do so in passages like Galatians 6:10 and 2 Thessalonians 1:11. The Galatians passage probably sums this up best; we are to do good to all people, but especially to those who are fellow believers. Believers are our brothers and sisters in the Lord, so we should do all that we can to treat them with goodness, remembering that we are one body. Just like you take care of your own physical body, we too should take care of the spiritual body, the Church, by doing good to others in that body. It doesn't just end there though, because we are to do good towards unbelievers also. Being good should be a character trait of all believers as it will lead us to do acts of kindness often. This fruit of goodness has a direct correlation to kindness because if you have a heart to do good, then it's going to manifest itself with kindness.

Faithfulness

Faithfulness is the final fruit listed in verse 22, and it can be defined as loyalty or trustworthiness. There are a couple of different ways in which we can view this particular fruit, but there are two instances in particular that should be pointed out. First and foremost, we should be faithful to Jesus Christ. As we have already learned, we cannot serve two masters or take sides with the world and still be a friend of God; therefore, if we are to follow Christ, it is going to take a measure of faithfulness and dedication on our part. We must be loyal to the One who has bought us with a price, instead of trying to play both sides of the fence. In another respect, we should have this same attitude toward the Church and others. As believers, we should be known as dependable and trustworthy; people should be able to count on us, especially when we give them our word. Jesus Christ was faithful unto death, and we should be the same. A few passages of Scripture that help back all of this up would include: Lamentations 3:22; Philippians 2:7-9; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; and Revelation 2:10.

Gentleness

Moving on to verse 23, we find gentleness as another character trait for those who walk by the Spirit. Looking at the Greek, this word is probably better translated as "meekness," which infers a humble and gentle attitude in every situation. There are a few attitudes that are generally associated with gentleness/meekness in Scripture, and they are: 1) submission to the will of God (Colossians 3:12), 2) teachability (James 1:21), and 3) consideration of others (Ephesians 4:2). So, when we're looking at this in practical terms, we should be humble at all times, especially in those three circumstances. Concerning the will of God, we should always be ready to submit to it, as well as sound biblical teaching. Finally, we should also be considerate of others, and be willing to submit to their needs if it is required. What's more, this attitude is never one that seeks revenge or repayment of any kind, it is purely a grace attitude.

Self-Control

Our ninth and final character trait or spiritual fruit is self-control. This simply refers to being able restrain yourself and your passions. This is one of those things that can apply to every part of our lives, as it includes self-discipline, restraint, and control. When our flesh rises up, we should be able to have self-control enough to not give in to its lusts, as we beat or discipline our bodies into subjection to the Spirit (1 Corinthians 9:25-27). This doesn't just apply to sin though, as it can also apply to our spiritual growth. We need to have discipline to pray and study the Scriptures on a daily basis, just as we need self-control to exercise and eat healthy. There are numerous applications here, but the point is that the believer lives a controlled life that is subject to walking by the Spirit.

Live By... Walk By

As we already covered in verse 18, the latter end of verse 23 reemphasizes the point that we are no longer under the Law. The emphasis here isn't so much on our freedom; instead, the purpose of this passage is to show that the believer does not need the Law to produce these kinds of character traits. Just as Romans 8:4 tells us, we walk according to the Spirit and our behavior is intent upon pleasing God; this means that we don't need the Law to tell us that we need to do these things.

How are we able to do this? Well verse 24 gives us our answer; all those who are in Christ have put their flesh and all of its desires on the cross of

Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Him, we became new creations; our old sinful nature was put on the cross and we were given a new nature and made alive in the Spirit. As verse 25 continues, we live in the Spirit, which is what happens when we're born again. The Spirit makes us alive (eternal life or spiritual life) at the moment of our conversion, and from that moment on, we are living by the Spirit. This means that He is the source by which we live spiritually. If that is indeed the case, then it should only be natural that we walk by the Spirit, who gives us spiritual life. Our desire should be to walk according to His ways because He gives us life.

In as much as it is, we can say that walking by the Spirit is putting ourselves in a position to mimic Christ. We are told in Scripture (1 Corinthians 11:1 and Ephesians 5:1) that we are to be imitators of Christ. When we walk by the Spirit, we are making the decision to imitate Jesus Christ and all of those who have walked the Faith before us. In doing this, we are living in a manner that is pleasing to God and being conformed to look more like Him, which is the ultimate goal.

Now, this whole talk about walking by the Spirit can get a bit confusing because it can very quickly turn into a talk on legalism. It also becomes a question of whether or not it is our works that save us. The Apostle James eloquently dealt with this issue in his epistle, when he writes:

James 2:14-26 (NASB) - 14What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." 19You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God. 24You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Given that a full breakdown of this passage is outside the scope of this study (and has already been handled in our James devotion series), we will only highlight the portion that pertains to this study. So, let's point out the obvious. The first thing that we see here is that there is a difference between simply saying that you have faith and actually living it out; it's one thing to talk about believing in Christ, but it's another thing entirely to live it out. But as James goes on, he explains that you don't really have faith unless you live it out. You cannot say that you're truly a believer if you're not doing the things that are consistent with being a believer. As James illustrates, if you see that someone is in need of food or clothing and you have the means to help them, then do it. That goes right back to kindness and goodness from the fruit of the Spirit; you're actively living out what it is that you believe. As James continues, he says that these works aren't what guarantee or solidify your salvation, but they are visible proof to the world that you are who you say you are: a child of God. It is this point that we want to key in on because that's what the fruit of the Spirit and walking worthy of the gospel are all about; we are to be about our Father's business and living in a manner that makes it visible to others.

To Live is Christ

Having dealt thoroughly with the fruit of the Spirit, we are now ready to further depict what it means to walk worthy of the gospel and live a life of worship. Our next area of study takes us to a very familiar passage of Scripture, and again to the writings of the Apostle Paul. Here, we are going to look at Philippians 1:21 and the verses that follow. This is another passage that speaks directly to walking worthy of the gospel of Christ, and includes the Philippians passage that we skipped over earlier in our lesson. Let us read the passage now:

Philippians 1:21-27 (NASB) - 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again. 27Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

The very first thing that you'll notice in reading this passage is verse 21. Given all that Paul had been through in his life and ministry as an apostle, it was quite obvious that he would much rather be someplace other than in the flesh, which meant being in heaven in the presence of Almighty God. This is what is meant by the words "to die is gain;" Paul is making it clear that there is more to life than just this existence here on earth, and he was anticipating greater things knowing that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). Knowing that truth, Paul also knew that he was to still exemplify Christ while living on this earth, which is the first part of verse 21 where we want to focus our attention.

As we know, being housed in sinful flesh isn't all that it's cracked up to be and it would be far better to go right to heaven at the moment of our salvation; but that isn't the case, it's not going to happen. Therefore, since we have to live on this earth until Christ calls us home, we should make the most of it. This is what Paul tells the Philippians he is going to do as long as he has the breath of life in his lungs. He states in verse 22 that by living he is able to produce fruitful labor. In other words, he is going to continue doing the work of the Lord and putting Christ on display until he reaches the point of death. Paul is not doing this for selfish reasons, but to benefit other believers, allowing them to progress in the faith and have a greater confidence in Christ (verse 25).

Holding right there for a moment, let's stop and ask ourselves a question. How does this relate to us? It's nice and all that Paul wants to live to the benefit of others, but how does that apply to us? In light of

what we're talking about in this study, this too should be the call of our lives: to live is Christ. As long as we're living and breathing, we should strive to live like Christ and progress in the faith, both for ourselves and others. Like Paul, our motivation for continuing on is growth. We should desire to see ourselves grow on a daily basis as we study the Word, have intimacy with the Father, and live it all out. It doesn't end there though because we should also be taking everything that we've learned and teaching it to others also so that they can grow and mature in their faith. This is the heart of what Paul is talking about. Sure, he's ready to be in heaven, but he's going to be productive for as long as he's here, both in his own walk and in aiding the walk of others.

Continuing on, let's move forward to verse 27, where we find our statement about walking worthy of the gospel. In writing to the church of Philippi, Paul wanted them to continue living out the gospel and displaying godly character, even if he was not able to visit them again. This verse brings out a very important statement about the integrity and ethic that all believers should possess. Paul didn't just want these Philippian believers to act like Christians only when he was around; but, he wanted them to do the right thing whether he was there or not. The same holds true for us. It shouldn't matter whether or not someone is there to keep us in check; we should be walking by the Spirit even if no one else is watching. That's the true test of any person's character. It doesn't matter what you do when everyone else is around; the true you is going to come out when no one else is looking, and it is that person who should be imitating Christ on a daily basis.

Living this life is truly all about Christ and that is the heart of what it means to live worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You walk it out without external motivation or peer pressure. You also live, not just for yourself, but for every other believer so that you all can continue growing in the faith.

Run With Endurance

As we've already stated, we don't go to heaven as soon as we get saved. That means that we've got to walk this thing out for a while. Why? Because we aren't there yet. When we get saved, we don't know everything we need to know, nor are we as spiritually mature as we need to be. As a matter of fact, when we first get saved, we look very little like Christ and more like our old selves. That's where the Christian walk comes into play; we live so that we can become more like Christ. Many times, Scripture compares this process of growth and maturity to the realm of athletics, such as running a race, and that's exactly what we're going to look at next. We're going to examine the race that we're each running and see what we need to do in order to run with endurance and make it to the finish line. Turning to Hebrews 12, we will see the basis for this spiritual truth.

Hebrews 12:1-7 (NASB) - 1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives." 7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

The first point that we want to take away from this passage is one that we've already stated: this life is a journey. From the moment we get saved until we get to heaven, we are running a "faith race." Furthermore, we have to remember that it's going to take time for us to reach our goal. In other words, we're not going to become a super saint overnight. We're going to go step by step and grow in spiritual maturity with each positive step forward. There are going to be times where we stumble and fall, which is a given because we are still housed in sinful flesh, but we keep going forward moving towards maturity. A part of that maturing includes doing what we find in verse 1, where we are told to "lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us." Using a track analogy, we can look at those sins and encumbrances as extra clothes and weight that we're wearing. You don't see the fastest man in the world racing in full clothing, Timberlands, and a backpack on; no, you see him in his light track shoes and his uniform. In order to run a race we need to take off all of that extra stuff and put it away from us so that we aren't carrying any unnecessary weight that is either going to slow us down or cause us to stumble. That's exactly what sin does, it trips us up. For as long as we choose to keep sin close, it's going to slow down our growth in the things of God. As soon as we make the conscious decision to rid our lives of sin, we are able to run faster and get further along in the race, which translates into spiritual maturity.

It is only when we lay aside our sins and encumbrances that we are able to fully walk according to the Spirit and in a manner worthy of the gospel. When this happens, we are able to run the race that is set before us and obtain our prize. What's more, we need to look at the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. These are all the believers who have walked before us and have already achieved the goal that we're trying to obtain. They should serve as an encouragement to us to live out the Christian way of life. And, in view of that, we're not trying to outdo anything that they did, but we are to follow in their footsteps and emulate them, as they emulated Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

But what is it that helps us to get rid of the sin and emulate that great cloud of witnesses? That's where verse 2 comes into play. What's going to help us get rid of the sin in our lives is having our focus on the right thing, which is our second point: the object of our focus is to be Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the One that motivates us to live out a life of worship, as we constantly remind ourselves of what He endured on our behalf. Christians should be singularly focused on Christ, not looking to the right or the left. Just like any good athlete, you have to have tunnel vision, which means that you're focused on nothing else but your goal. Think about an athlete like Tiger Woods for a moment. When he's competing in a major golf tournament, he doesn't let anything distract him from his goal of coming in first place. He ignores the crowd, other competitors, and everything else. His focus is on his ball and the flag indicating where the hole is; and that focus remains constant until the tournament is over. For us, as we engage the Word of God, we get a glimpse of what Jesus did for us; and, knowing that, we should gain a focus of wanting to be obedient to Him, which serves as our motivation to walk by the Spirit of God. You see, if Christ was willing to go to the cross and die for us, it is only right that we put our energy and life into living for Him. Getting back to the point of ridding our lives of sin, what happens when we keep our focus on Je

sus Christ is that we do not have time to give into sin and temptation. The more we keep ourselves adjusted to Christ, the less we will sin and the more we will be able to conform to look like Him. Just as we find in Psalm 119:11, when we hide God's Word in our hearts and meditate on it, the less we sin.

Skipping ahead to verse 7, we find our purpose for enduring and running this race. This verse tells us that we endure and run this race for the sake of discipline. Discipline? Yes, discipline! Now, this isn't discipline in a negative light, as we can relate it to the spiritual maturity that we were just talking about. God allows us to continue living on this earth after getting saved so that we can face trials and situations that will gradually mold us into the image of Christ. We endure so that we can grow, learn, and succeed. I think about this with my own children a lot of times; I love my children and there are many times where I have to discipline them. The reason I discipline them is because I want them to learn how to make the right decisions in life and grow up to be competent God fearing individuals. If I didn't love them, I would just let them run wild and allow them to do whatever they wanted to do, eventually letting them fall into whatever traps that the world has set for them. Well, God is the same way; He loves us, and He directs the course of life so that we can obtain maximum spiritual maturity before we reach the goal that has been set before us in eternal life. He disciplines us and takes us through different situations so that we can grow and mature. Sure, it's not always easy, but we must endure if we're to obtain the goal.

Not that we needed anymore motivation, but the author of this epistle gives us more encouragement in verses 3 and 4. What we find here is quite simple, yet infinitely powerful. We're told to again look at Jesus Christ; He lived perfectly and was eventually killed by sinners. Yet, throughout all that He knew He was going to face, He endured and never lost hope. Even more, we haven't fought to the point of shedding blood when it comes to warring against our flesh and this world. In other words, we haven't fought hard enough against sin yet to face the same mortal end as Jesus by dying on the cross. Until we reach that point, we have it pretty light in comparison, which should motivate us to endure all the more; the things we deal with are only momentary light afflictions (2 Corinthians 4:17). And if you want more examples, look at all the martyrs who have died for the faith because they stood for Christ and fought against wickedness. We can't say that we have it that bad when we're not facing any of that persecution, especially in Western civilization. Even today, there are people around the world who are being persecuted and killed because they choose to live for Christ. So again, we endure as we strive against sin and run this race.

The Crown of Life

So, we're running throughout this Christian life, but what is it that we're running for? What is the purpose of walking worthy of the gospel and living a life of worship unto God? That's what we want to answer as we close this study. I want you to realize what you're doing all of this for. Why should you read your Bible? Why should you pray? Why should you worship? Why should you walk worthy of the gospel? You do it all to receive the crown of life, which we are told about in James 1:12.

James 1:12 (NASB) - Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Let's be honest with ourselves for a moment. We just finished giving an illustration of an athlete who is running a race. Why are they even running the race to begin with? To receive a prize, right? Who, in their right mind, puts their body through that kind of strenuous activity just for the fun of it with no goal in sight? Nobody. That means that they're running with a purpose, and their purpose is to receive a prize. 1 Corinthians 9:25 tells us that they run in order to receive a temporary prize, something that is earthly and will perish; but, we are doing this because we're going after something that is eternal. Paul calls it a wreath, but here James calls it the crown of life. That's why we are living this Christian life and running the race that's been set before us; we're doing it because we want to see Jesus face-to-face and have eternal life.

What exactly is the crown of life? In its simplest terms, we can say that it's salvation. This isn't the salvation that you get when you profess Christ, this is a different kind of salvation. When we look at Scripture, we see that there are different kinds of salvation. There is the salvation where we put our faith in Jesus Christ; there is another salvation that we receive daily as we overcome sin; and there is yet another salvation that we ultimately receive when we get to heaven and become completely free from sin. The final reference is the one that James is referring to; he is telling us that if we're able to persevere and overcome all the trials of this life, we will obtain eternal life in heaven which is salvation from this "body of death," which is our sinful flesh. Let's further describe this crown of life because this isn't a physical crown that we're going after, although we will receive rewards for the works and ministry we've done here on earth. This crown of life isn't a physical crown at all; when you look at the Greek, the crown of life can be better understood as "the crown which is life," meaning that eternal life (salvation) is the crown, it is the prize that we're going after, along with simply being in the presence of the Lord.

The crown of life is what gives us purpose, as we fix our eyes on the Author and Finisher of our faith. When we wonder why it is that we're enduring and running this race, especially on those hard days, we can remember that we're doing it so that we can receive the prize. Our desire, as believers, is to glorify God with our lives, but we can only do that in a limited fashion for as long as we're in the flesh; but, as soon as we receive the crown of life, we'll be able to fully glorify and worship Him because we'll no longer have to deal with sin. Just think about it this way, for as much as you struggle now to glorify God, if you keep striving for the crown, when you get it, it'll be that much easier to glorify Him! This is why we study our Bible; this is why we pray; this is why we worship; and, this is why we walk worthy of the gospel. We do it all to receive the crown of life, by which we in turn glorify God.

Conclusion

The final question that we have to ask ourselves, now that we're at the end of this series of study, is this: where do we go from here? After making it through this series, I hope that the answer is an easy one. If not, the answer is to take all the pieces from each study, put them together, and apply them to our lives. We need to be committed to a daily study of the Scriptures, continually holding it in high regard. Our desire to know more about our Living God should overtake us and generate a passion to want to do more than just open up our Bible on Sundays. We then need to couple our study of the Scriptures with prayer, making the Bible an integral part of our prayer lives. We should pray God's promises from the Bible back to Him, which we will know more of as we study, and use it as a means of glorifying Him, just as the psalmists did. Once we do that, we can take our study and prayer, and move that into worshipping God. Let prayer serve as one of your means of worshipp

ing God, while you let the Word become a motivation for and a means by which your mind is renewed. Then, finally, you take all of that and just live out a life that is pleasing to God by walking by the Spirit and in obedience to His will.

That's it, that's the Christian life in a nutshell. That's what this "Read.Pray.Worship.Live." series was all about, it was about teaching some of the fundamentals of the Christian way of life so that we can better serve and worship our God. After going through these four studies, it is my prayer that you're better equipped to do just that. If you've been blessed by this series, then feel free to drop me a line and tell me how it's helped you in your walk. I'm praying for you! God bless!