 This weekend the theme that has been chosen by the women and I guess the pastors has been with the master in fullness of joy and I am very excited about that because we all need to be joyful. We have Christ we just sang about that. We have him and he is enough and if he is enough then we should have fullness of joy, right? And it shouldn't be dependent on anything else in life. And so tonight we're going to start with looking at being with the master, having fullness of joy and prayer and ladies. If you do not have a active, passive, I mean active, passionate prayer life then I trust that you will be thoroughly convicted and changed after tonight because if you are a joyless person I can guarantee you're also a prayer less person. Then tomorrow morning we're going to look at humility, fullness of joy and humility. Joyful people by and large are also humble people. Have you noticed that? Prideful people are not very happy and so it kind of goes hand in hand. Then we're going to look at contentment. This is huge, huge. Paul says he's learned in whatever state he is to be content. I've learned to have it all. I've learned to have nothing. I've learned to be hungry. I've learned to be full. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And so ladies, if you are a woman who is discontent, always murmuring, always complaining, you have no joy. And you know what? It shows on your face. And I see women all the time. And they look like their husband just announced that he was antichrist and I don't know, killed their mother or something. I don't know. And you think, where is the joy? Where is the joy? We are going to look at that. Then by pressing on, you know, this is difficult sometimes. I've often thought in the last two months of what Elizabeth L.A. used to go to all of her conferences before she got Alzheimer's. But I learned so much from that godly woman. And one of the things I can remember her saying, when you don't know what to do, just do the next thing. And I have told myself that the last two months. And I'm like, how can I do this? Pack for this trip, but I've got to pack these boxes. And I think Susan, just do the next thing. What is it you need to do? Pay this bill, make this phone call, do the next thing. And so we're going to look at pressing on, go on, go on. Paul says, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I forget the things that are behind and I press on. And so we're going to look at that. Sometimes it's difficult to go on. But please, if you stay stagnant or if you stay bogged down with your problems and your trials and you don't move on, you will be robbed of your joy. And so we're going to look at that. And then last tomorrow, before I catch a plane, Lord willing, to go home so I can move the next day. Well, after the Lord's Day, we're going to have the Lord's Day first and I'll move. Is looking at being joyful by making sure you're minding your mind. And you know, most of you know I'm a big advocate of scripture memorization. Paul says we're to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. And so ladies, if you are not minding your mind and what you're putting into your mind, you are going to be a woman that has no joy. Jesus says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speak. And so things that are in our heart that come out, these things defile a man, fornication, adultery, all those things. But it's what you start thinking. And so we need to be really minding our mind. And we're going to look at that little passage where Paul says we are to think on these things, whatever things are true, lovely, just, and etc. He says if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. And so we're going to look at that tomorrow. So I hope you're ready for the journey together. And I am, I'm excited and I'm looking forward to it. So let's get into our time together. And now I didn't start 15 minutes late. So just remember that. But anyway, let's turn in our Bibles to Philippians chapter one, Philippians chapter one. And we're going to look at this precious prayer of the Apostle Paul. And before we do, I want to pray. Oh, Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Thank you for this opportunity of worship. Thank you for these precious ladies. Thank you for their hospitality to Debbie and me. Lord, they are so kind. They are so generous. The love of Christ radiates through them. And I thank you that I see Christ in them. I know many of them have gone through a lot of suffering and a lot of trials. But oh God, I see Christ in them. And I thank you for that. And I see the joy of the Lord in them despite persecution and suffering. Lord, that is just a testimony to your grace and your mercy. And we thank you, Father. And so Lord, we commit this weekend to you. We know that you have something for each of us. And I pray, Lord, that we will not quench the spirit, that we will listen to his voice, that we will obey whatever it is the Father wants us to do. Lord, that we will look at our life, look at ourselves. And Lord, if we need to make some adjustments after this weekend, I pray we will repent and that we will make those adjustments so that we can be more conformed to Christ. And Lord, that people will see us and they will say, that woman is genuinely a Christian. Her life shows it. So Father, give us grace. We know we can't do this without your spirit. There is no way. And so Father, help us to be willing. And I pray that we would leave here with great joy and encouragement this weekend in Christ's name. Amen. Well, as I go around and travel and speak to various women, sometimes I get in these conversations with them and also women I disciple and counsel. And usually, you know, sometimes we'll get to talking about things and I'll say, you know, if I were to ask you, what is the greatest struggle that you have as a Christian? Do you know by far the answer I get the most is my prayer life? My prayer life. I need help with my prayer life. And so I say to you this evening that if I went around the room this evening and asked you that, that probably about 80% of our answers. 80% of you would probably say it's my prayer life. That is my greatest struggle. And so because of that, we could all go to school with the Apostle Paul and learn some wonderful principles of praying and how to pray. Because many times we don't pray because we don't know how to pray or what to pray for. And many times, I don't know in your church, but sometimes, you know, we'll gather together on Sunday morning for prayer and Tuesday night is our midweek, so we'll gather together and we have prayer beforehand. And you know, my husband will ask for prayer requests. And many times, you know, what you'll get is, well, I know my aunt's going to have surgery on Thursday. And you know, I have this ingrown toe and you know, I'm having a bad hair day and I need prayer for that. And you know, I lost my job or you know, my husband and I aren't getting along. And you know, even though those are not bad things, we're going to pray about everything, right? They're not wrong, but are they the best prayers that we could be praying? How much time do we spend asking God for spiritual qualities which are so desperately needed in our lives as well as the lives of others? You know, many times we might be praying for material possession for ourselves or others. And do you know God might want to give you something bigger and better, like contentment with what you have instead of some other material blessing? Or maybe you're praying for healing for yourself or someone else. And you know what? God might not want to do that. He might want to teach you humility. And maybe that's the only way he can teach you humility or to trust him or to be patient or to find joy and suffering. Or maybe it's a lesson in chastening. Maybe you're disobeying the Lord and it might be a lesson in chastening. You know, I can't tell you how much I prayed in February. Lord, please don't sell this house. Lord, please don't sell this house. Lord, please you know this is not a good time for me to move. You know what? This is Susan Joy Heck. I'm going to sell your house and it is good for you because you need to learn to depend on me more. And you know what? Here we are. It's almost moving day and God has been faithful every single day. And so I'm glad he told me no. And I'm seeing great joy in finding joy in his will for my life. And so I say all that to say this. I trust that you after tonight will take these biblical principles and these prayer requests. And you will put them into practice and learn to pray more effectively for yourself, for your children, for your grandchildren if you have them and for others in your life. So let's read this prayer together Philippians 1-9-11. And I think you have an outline there before you and somewhere on... I don't know what page it's on. Do you all know what page? Page 9. There we go. We're already at page 9 conference and we're on page 9. Can you believe it? Alright, Philippians 1-9-11. And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more knowledge and all discernment that you may approve things that are excellent that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Now, in this very, very short prayer that we're going to look at this evening we're going to see the Apostle Paul with four rich prayer requests for the church at Philippi. Four. And they all start with the letter A for your convenience. So see, you already have your outline there. A-A-A-A. How good is that? Now, notice how he begins this prayer in verse 9. He says, And this I pray. Now, ladies, stop right there. This is very important wording here that the Holy Spirit puts. And this I pray. Because it indicates that the Apostle Paul was always in the habit of praying. And this I pray. This is my continual habit of prayer. You know, the Apostle Paul not only did he pray for the church at Philippi he prayed for the church at Thessalonica he prayed for the church at Colossae. I mean, he prayed for all the churches, the church at Corinth even though they were, you know, living in the ascension and sin and all that, he still prayed for them. They probably needed more prayer along with the church at Galatia. And ladies, I would encourage you if you have struggles with your prayer life read all of Paul's prayers for all the churches and use them in your own prayer life. Use them for yourself. Use them as you pray for others. Paul must have had quite a prayer list. Sometimes I think I have quite a prayer list every day. I keep a prayer journal and I write Paul's names out that I pray for. But you know, you look at Paul's prayer list I imagine it was quite extensive. I encourage you to use them. Jesus himself said, men always ought to pray and not to faint. Paul the Apostle said, pray without ceasing. We should be praying as if, like when you're breathing right now, I wonder how many breaths you'll take in the next, you know, 35 minutes. That's the idea. You pray without ceasing. You should always be in a habit of prayer. We talk about prayer. We hear sermons on prayer. We tell people all the time, today I was talking to a lady on the phone. Difficult. She just found out her husband had been committing adultery with the pastor's wife for three years and they just found out about it. Terrible situation. And I said, I'll pray for you. And I thought, as I was sitting there talking to her on my cell phone, I thought, no, I'm going to pray for her right now. No time like the present. Pray for her right now. Ladies, you know, we tell people all the time, I'll pray for you. But how much time do we spend praying for others? You know, prayer is the best, one of the best ways I think we can show love to one another. You know, a lot of times people say, Susan, what can I do for you? Especially in this last couple months. Susan, what can I do for you? I said, pray for me. Pray for me not to sin in this process. I don't want to sin, even though the Lord is putting pressure on my life. Pray for me. And I thank God for people who pray for me. Now, what does Paul pray for the church at Philippi? Does he pray that they will come and get him out of prison? Because that's where he is when he's writing this letter. I am praying that you guys will come and get me out of this place. And tomorrow we're going to find out how bad this place was that he was in. Does he ask prayer? He says, I'm praying that you guys will get a new herd of cattle. Is that what he prays? I'm praying that you guys will inherit a lot of money from your parents, because I hear they're getting ready to croak. And so I'm praying that you're going to inherit a lot of money from them. Nope, he didn't pray that. Notice what he prays. Four wonderful prayer requests. Notice the first one. The first A is a bounding love. Notice how Paul puts it. I pray that your love will abound more and more. Now, that might seem like a strange prayer request to you. To pray for a bounding love or that our love would abound more and more. And it might seem like a strange prayer request if you know anything about the church at Philippi. Because Paul had a very tender great affection for the church at Philippi. He loved this church. And this church loved him. It's kind of like, you know, Cornerstone. You guys are not, you know, see? Knit tightly together. And you love one another. And that shows. And so it seemed odd, you know, I pray for the church at Cornerstone. They have more and more love. Because you guys already love one another. And you love me. And I don't know why. But you do. And so it might seem like a strange prayer request. The church at Philippi was known for their love. They were known for their love to Paul. And Paul loved them. So why would he pray that? Because, ladies, Paul realized that something you and I should know. Do you know love is foundational for everything that we do in the Christian life? Didn't Paul write that great chapter on love? What? Faith, hope and love. But the greatest is what? Love. And without love, we're what? We're a big fat zero. We're nothing. Nothing. You are never going to arrive in the area of love. Loving one another. We're not going to. We're not going to. Ladies, we need to pray for one another. We would have more love for God, more love for others, more love for the lost. Now, Paul prays that their love would abound. What does that mean? What does it mean their love would abound? Well, the word abound is in the verb form of the noun abundance. And so, it means to have something that is above the ordinary that is overflowing. Like a river overflowing. It's just a bounding. Ladies, our love for one another should overflow. It should abound. It should be more and more. And notice it should overflow in two areas. Look at these two areas. The first area it should overflow in, he says, is knowledge. This I pray that your love would abound more and more, first of all in knowledge. What does this mean? Well, it means knowledge of the truth and knowledge that enables to avoid error. Now, think about it just for a minute. When you think about Christian love, okay, it has to be more than the world offers. The kind of love the world offers. What kind of love does the world offer? Sex, sentimental, mushy, gushy, Valentine's Day kind of love, you know? Christian love is a lot more richer and deeper than that. And ladies, it has to be a love that is based on knowledge. Knowledge. A knowledge of the word of God, which is guided by the Spirit. Your love for one another better be based on this Bible right here. Not my Bible, but your Bible. God's word, okay? You can't have my Bible, but your love better be based on God's word. And a knowledge of what he says. Otherwise, your love for one another is going to be anemic, it's going to be weak, it's going to be sick. And so, our love should be based on knowledge. Ladies, without the word of God it's impossible for you and I to unselfishly love one another. We cannot. Now, not only should our love abound in knowledge, but notice what else he says. Discernment. This I pray that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and your translation might say judgment or discernment. Here, the word means power of discernment and the meaning is Paul was praying that their love would be exercised with proper discrimination. Proper discernment. Christian love is not blind, we might say. Ladies, we should have discerning love and love discernment. Paul wants him to grow in this and he wants him to be able to distinguish the things that are between good and evil. In fact, in John MacArthur's book, this is a book that came out many, many years ago, one of my favorites that he wrote, Reckless Faith When the Church Loses the Will to Discern. I highly recommend it, pick it up, dust it off. It was, you know, eons ago when he wrote it. But he says if we're going to be a discerning people, we must develop the skill of discriminating between truth and error and between good and bad. And then he gives a biblical formula for discernment that I want to give to you. Number one, he says judge everything. In other words, examine everything. Ladies, I hope you do that. I hope you test teachers. I hope you are discerning. Number two, he says cling to what is good. In other words, what you hear this weekend. That is truth. That is God's word. You better cling to it. You better cling to it because it's not Susan that's talking. If I'm declaring truth, it's God's word. You cling to that. Thirdly, shun what is evil. If I say anything this weekend that is in error or off balance, don't listen to me. You know, if I go outside the scriptures, you better avoid it. First of all, you better confront me. But shun it. Get away from it. Fourthly, he says, desire wisdom. Desire wisdom. And we know the fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom. Fifthly, he says pray for discernment. Ladies, do you pray for discernment? When you're sitting there listening to someone teach God's word, do you pray for discernment? Lord, help me discern. Is this truth? Is this not pray? Then he says depend on the Holy Spirit. Number eight, depend on the Holy Spirit. Number nine, study the scriptures. And number 10, keep growing. Ladies, if you are not any different tonight in your knowledge and understanding of God's word, if you're not, if you haven't grown at all since last year, this time when I was here, you better ask yourself why, right? Because my Bible says we what? Change from glory to glory even by the Spirit of the Lord, okay? And so I think I've shared this with you before, but my husbands often said, you know, if we looked at the person we were 10 years ago, we'd say, who is that? They were like a pagan. And they must have been a, who is that woman? But if we would turn ourselves and look at ourselves 10 years from now, we would be intimidated by the person that we will become in Christ. Be intimidated to be like that. Ladies, we better be growing. We better be discerning. And Paul knew the Philippian believers and ladies, you need it too. You need discernment. So he says, this I pray that your love would abound yet more and more in two areas, knowledge and discernment. Well, let's move on to verse 2 and the second and third prayer requests for the Philippians. Notice the second prayer request, Paul's praise for them. He says, I'm praying that you will approve things that are excellent. So the second prayer request, your second A, approval of excellent things, what does this mean? Well, the word approve here means a testing of metals to discern their quality. But ladies, before we can approve things that are excellent, we must first be able to distinguish between what is excellent and what is not. Now, listen very carefully. Paul is not saying, I'm praying you'll be able to discern between right and wrong. He is not saying that. That's not one of his prayers. He's saying this, I am praying that you will choose the best things to do with your time. Choose what is excellent. Choose what is excellent. Choose the things that are worthwhile. Ladies, this means we must think biblically and focus our time and energy on what really counts. And in case you don't know what that is, Proverbs 31 and Titus 2, that'll give you enough to do, right? For the rest of your life. But you know what? The only way we can approve or know what is excellent is to know what God says is excellent. What does he say is excellent for me to do with my time, my money, my energy. Ladies, we cannot make choices to please others because we'll end up in trouble. You cannot be controlled by your emotions. Okay? I've had a lot of those in the last few years. I've kept them under control pretty much. Moods, circumstances, you cannot make choices on that. So how do I make excellent choices? If Paul is praying, I'm praying that you will choose things are excellent. Then you might say, well Susan, how do I go through my day and know what I should be doing? What's a priority for me? Well, I'm going to give you seven questions to ask yourself when facing a decision on what is the best thing for you to do. Number one, is this something that will enslave me? Is this something that will enslave me? You know, a lot of things are morally not wronged for a Christian to do. I was talking today to some ladies, and we were talking about kids specifically and addictions to cell phones and iPads and you can't put them down. Now the average child spends two to four hours a day on that stuff. That's an enslavement. That's idolatry. I know women who have gotten off Facebook because they're spending four to eight hours a day on it. Ladies, that is not choosing what is excellent. Number two, is this something that will create an appetite for more? This thing I'm getting ready to do, will it create an appetite for more? Well, if it's chocolate it's okay. I did notice we had some on our table too. Thirdly, is it something that will destroy my ability to think logically? Is this something that will destroy my ability to think logically? This would be a question you should ask every time you go to the doctor because now every doctor wants to put people on psychotropic drugs. One out of every two Americans is on some type of psychotropic drug. And ladies, I counsel a lot of those women. I can't even reach them because they are checked out. They're robotic. I say I want to help you but you've got to get off of those drugs. The Bible, my Bible tells me we are to be sober-minded and especially as we are approaching the end of the age Jesus says be sober and watch. Ladies, those drugs will affect your thinking. We need to be very careful. Number four, is this something that will weaken my intimacy with God? Is this something that will weaken my intimacy with God? Again, a lot of things that women choose to do are not bad. But ladies, I will ask how much time do you spend in the Word? Oh, I don't have time to read my Bible. Well, how much time do you spend watching television? Oh, well, we watch about three or four hours a night or on my Facebook three or four hours but you don't have time to spend in the Word? I have something wrong. I have a big problem with that. If it weakens your intimacy with God then I would say it's not excellent. Which kind of goes with number five, will it cause me to neglect Bible study and prayer? Will it cause me to neglect Bible study and prayer? Number six, will it cause my body to rule over my spirit and soul? This thing I'm getting ready to do, will it cause my body to rule over my spirit and my soul? Then the last question you can kind of throw out the six I just gave you and you should say well why didn't you just give me number seven and get on with it? If you just ask yourself this question alone it would determine a lot of what you do during a day, okay? Can I ask God to bless this? This thing I'm getting ready to do, this person I'm getting ready to gossip to or whatever can I ask God to bless this? Ladies, if you ask yourself those seven questions I think it would take care of a lot of your decisions and the things that you do during the day. Paul says I'm praying that you all will choose to do what is excellent. Choose things that will count for eternity. Ladies do you know everything that you are the chair you're sitting on, the table it's all going to burn up. That pin you're writing with right now it's going to burn up. That jewelry on your hand. Well maybe not the gold but it's everything's going to burn up. It's going to burn up. It's only what's done for Christ that will last. That's it. And so Paul says choose things that are excellent. Choose things that are excellent. Well notice Paul's third request for the Philippian believers. First you pray for a bounding love. Secondly that they will choose things that are excellent. And thirdly notice what he says. He says not only that you will prove things that are excellent but that you might be sincere without a fence till the day of Christ. So Paul's third request is the third A on your outline there. Authentic living. Authentic living. Paul says that you will be sincere without a fence till the day of Christ. Now what's he praying here for them? Well the word sincere interesting word comes from two words that mean in the Greek without wax. Without wax. And it's interesting because in biblical times what they tell us is that if you were going to go buy a piece of furniture and you went into you know the furniture and I'm noticing this now that I'm moving and I'm saying that piece of furniture has a nick. I wonder how many more nicks it'll get in the move. But anyway if you're going to go in and buy a piece of furniture usually what they would do if there was a big chip in the piece of furniture they would fill it with wax and then they would put a color on it so you couldn't tell. But if the dealer was honest and you went in to buy a piece of furniture he'd say this isn't and this is a beautiful pulpit. This piece of furniture is without wax. It's sincere. It's genuine. It is real. And if the customer would doubt the dealer's honesty he would look at the piece of furniture in the light, interesting to see if it was really without wax. You know what Paul's praying? I'm praying that you guys will be sincere. That you will not be hypocrites. That you will be who you really say you are. That you will not be with wax. And ladies as you and I expose ourselves to the light this scripture, this word of God we should be found without wax. We should be women who are transparent of character. Our hearts being on the inside what they appear to be on the outside. We should have no hypocrisy. You know when I got that email today I told Debbie I said I knew something was wrong with that pastor's wife the last two times I'd been at that church. She would not look me in the face. I said I knew something was going on. I had no idea she was committing adultery but I knew something was fishy. In fact Debbie even said you know the last time she didn't want to get around us at all. She was living a life of hypocrisy. Ladies we should be women that have no hypocrisy, no secret sins that show up when we're under pressure or temptation. Albert Barn says this implies this person is truly converted. He's not assumed Christianity as a mask. His motives are pure. His conduct is free from trick, trickery. His words express the real sentiments of his heart. He's true to his word and faithful to his promises and he's always what he professes to be. Paul says I'm praying you'll be sincere and without offense that's the other word without offense. This means to be blameless and it refers to not causing others to stumble. In fact the original word was used to describe the part of a trap to which the bait was attached which would cause one to trip into the trap. Paul's saying I'm praying that you will not cause other people to stumble, to sin. Paul says in another place in Romans 14-13 therefore let us not judge one another any more but rather this that no man put a stumbling block in front of his brother's way. Also Matthew 18, 6 and 7 whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble better that a millstone be hung around his neck and he be cast into the depths of the sea. Ladies, causing another brother or sister to stumble is a very serious sin. And Paul says I'm praying for you guys that you will be sincere with outwax and without a fence. Don't cause other people to stumble. Ladies, it's an important prayer request for you and I too because we need to take heed to our Christian walk. When I got that email today I thought another church here we go another church where there's immorality. I was like you know and I think about the people in that community where this pastor where this is all going on like here we go again you know. It just seems like day after day after day that Christianity is made fun of. We're a mockery. Ladies, we need to be very, very careful that we do not cause others to stumble. Now, how long do we need to be sincere without a fence? How long do you think you need to be sincere without a fence? Notice what he says till the day of Christ, till the day of Christ, ladies our whole life must be in preparation for that great day when we will see him as he is and you know what then your real character of who you are is going to be revealed, right? Everything is naked and open to him with whom we have to do. He knows. So maybe two more good questions to ask yourself and trying to figure out those gray areas would be this. Not only will it make others stumble but would I be ashamed if Jesus would return right now. Well, we now come to the final request for the church at Philippi in verse four. Notice what he says. He says I'm not not verse, yeah, did I say verse four? That's not right. The fourth prayer request. Sorry about that. Number in verse 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ into the glory and praise of God. So the fourth request for the church at Philippi is an abundance of fruit bearing. This is your fourth A. Abundance of fruit bearing. And Paul says I am praying that you guys will be filled with the fruits of righteousness. Now you might say well what is that? Well fruits of righteousness is actually an expression from the Old Testament. Proverbs 11 30 talks about the fruit of righteousness which is a tree of life. And so it refers to fruit that is produced because you have a right relationship with God and with others. And that makes sense because that's what Paul says. I am being, I am praying that you'll be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are what? By Jesus Christ. Ladies that's the only way you are going to produce any fruit. Is because of your right standing with him. Now I want to pause here and talk a little bit about fruit. Not the fruit that's back at my hotel room. When we got in last night there was this big basket of fruit. And I had a pair right before I came. It was delicious. But there was bananas and there was apples and there was pears and oranges and she's looking forward to that because she loves Florida oranges. I probably won't get one of them but she'll have them all. But because a lot of times we don't think about that kind of fruit biblically but we have a wrong idea about fruit. Some of us think well fruit that we should be producing is Galatians 522 and 23. Out of the fruit of this reader's love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, self-control. And that is true. We should all be producing those fruits. But did you know fruit is mentioned 106 times in the Bible? 100, do a word study sometime 106 times. And 70 of those times is in the New Testament. 70. So I want to talk a little bit about fruit. Do you know fruit is an indication of salvation? Jesus says by your fruits you will know them. Do men gather grapes of thorn or figs of thistles? You can tell a lot about a person by the people that follow them. There are also three conditions of being fruitful according to John 15. Cleansing, abiding and obedience. Unfruitfulness happens when we're caught up by the cares of this world. That's one of the things I have asked the Lord to help me during this process of moving as Lord. You know one of the best things about moving is I've given all this stuff away. I am so sick of stuff. We talked to someone a couple weeks ago and they said, you know, my wife and I, we spent the first 40 years of our marriage collecting all this stuff. Now we're spending the last 40 years getting rid of it. So I was even posting free things on Craigslist. Just come and get it out of my house. The other day I was counseling this lady and I said, do you like it? She goes, yeah, I love them. I go good. I'm going to go get you this and you can have it. You're going to give it to me? Yes, and everything in it. Just take it out of here. Just get it out of my house. So that's one of the things during this process. The Lord helped me not to be caught up in all this. It's so distracting. The cares of the world can cause us to be unfruitful. Also, it's the Lord's desire. We bear much fruit. I've ordained you and chosen you that you should what? Bring forth much fruit. Not just a little bit much and that should have remained John 15.8. Also, bearing fruit is not something you can produce on your own. Can't do it. It's a gift of God, the Holy Spirit. Now, some types of fruit that are mentioned in scriptures. The fruit of the mouth, Proverbs 12.14 talks about the fruit of our mouth. By the way, what kind of things come out of your mouth? What fruit are you producing with your mouth? Praise? Complaining? Kind words? Sharp words? The fruit of the hands, Proverbs 31.31 talks about the fruit of her hands. What are your hands doing? Is it fruitful? Are you wasting God's valuable time with your hands? Something to think about. We just saying, take my life and let it be. Take my lips and let them move. Take my hands. Take my feet. Did you mean what you just were saying? If you didn't, you got wax, right? So we better think about that. Fruit of the lips, Isaiah 57.19, Hebrews 13.15 talks about the fruit of our lips. Here's one you won't like. Jeremiah 6.19 talks about the fruit of our thoughts. Whoa! That's something no one sees but you and God, the fruit of our thoughts. What occupies your mind most of the time? Do you dwell on things above or things of the earth? What kind of things do you feed your mind? We're going to talk about that tomorrow afternoon. Are they fruitful? What do you think about? The fruit of our doings, Jeremiah 17.10 talks about the fruit of our doings. What are you doing? Sounds like a mother. What are you doing? What's a typical day for you? If I were to ask you here in a little bit when we close and I came up to you and I said, what did you do today? Was it fruitful? Was it honoring to the Lord? Was he pleased? Are you investing your life in others or in yourself? Are you using your spiritual gifts in your church, in your home? Also, Paul talks about the fruit among the brethren in Romans 1.13 which is a reference to sharing the gospel. Are you sharing the gospel with people? Are people being brought to a knowledge of Jesus Christ by your soul? And of course, we have the fruit of the spirit that I just mentioned. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, meeting, space, self-control. Are these produced in your life? If people look at you, they get, yeah, there's a woman who loves, she's joy, she's got peace, she's long suffering, she's gentle, she's good. You know, she's got all those things. Here's a good one, Matthew 3.8. Fruits befitting this means you have a changed heart and will. This means you look at sin realistically and you forsake it. I told you about the time. I know you've heard this story many, many years ago, early in my marriage, most of you know I didn't become redeemed till I was 30, so I had a lot of changing to do even though I was already a pastor's wife, but I told you I kept sinning against my husband the same thing. Coming back and asking him his forgiveness, we were in the bathroom. I still remember the bathroom and I said, honey, I dutted out, will you forgive me? He said no. I'm not going to forgive you. And I was like, well, wait a minute, you got to and he goes, no. Susan, you're not repenting. You just keep doing it over and over again and you're not serious. And I was like, you know what, he is dead right. I'm not serious. And you know what, that God used that to get me to repent, to really repent, to stop it. Fruits of repentance. Some other fruits. I won't go into all these fruit in our old age. That's where I am right now. I'm trying to produce as much fruit as I can in my old age. Psalm 92, 14 talks about that. Fruit unto holiness, fruit unto God, fruit unto, I mean, on and on, do a word study at some time. What's the purpose of all this fruit? Notice what Paul says, for his glory and praise, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ wise. So you can get back and everybody can sing how great you are. I told you about the time my son went to Robert Schuler's church when he was going out to seminary in California and one Sunday he went there just to see what it was like. And I said, what did you do that for? And he said, because I just wanted to see mom. I was like, well, I didn't tell you what I said. But anyway, he said, and mom, we sang this song, how great we are. And I said, and the ceiling didn't crash in on you. Shame on you for going there. So all this fruit producing is not for us. It's not for our glory. Notice what Paul says, so for his glory unto the glory and praise of God. You might say, well, Susan, how can I just I'm a 58 year old woman. How can I bring praise and glory to God? We can't add to his glory, right? No. Ladies, you and I glorify God by placing his attributes on display in our life. When others see the fruits of righteousness on display in your life, then they have a better picture of what God is like. And that brings praise and glory to God. When they see you loving others like Paul says, abounding in your love towards others, that puts God's glory on display. Ladies, we glorify God when we're increasing in our knowledge and discernment. We glorify God when we make excellent choices with our time, our energy, our money. Being sincere and without offense is another way to glorify the Lord. Ladies, that's why it's so important for you and I to conduct our life in a way that will bring honor and glory to him. As the songwriter says, you're the only Jesus some will ever see. You're the only Jesus some will ever see. So my question to you tonight is, if others knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ was your life only, what would Jesus's character be like to them? Ever ask yourself that? If others knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ was your life only, what would Jesus's character be like to them? Paul says, I'm praying all this for you guys so that God will be glorified to the praise and glory of God. Well, what wonderful prayers we can pray for one another. Number one, abounding love. Number two, approval of excellent things. Number three, authentic living. And number four, abundance of fruit bearing. In closing, I want to quote something I read many years ago out of one of Elizabeth Elliott's books. A lamp for my feet. It kind of has a lot to do with what we just covered in Paul's prayer. She says this, because I am of the earth, earthy, I find my prayers for the people that I love are mostly bound by very earthly concerns. Lord, help P to find a good wife, show G which college to attend, provide money for W's house and E's car, help T with his book and give X a better job. She says it's proper to pray for these things, but not just these things, but prayers that are far more lasting, important, which we need to learn to pray. She says we find words for those and the prayers of Jesus for the people he loved, prayers like that they would be one, that they would find his joy complete in themselves, that they would be kept from evil, that they would be made holy by the truth, that they would live in Christ, that they would grow complete into one, that they would be with him, that the love which God has for Christ would be in their hearts. If we could learn to pray those kinds of prayers it would perhaps amend the lesser prayers and then she prays this and I want to close with this prayer Lord, teach me to pray open my eyes to see beyond the earthly to the heavenly let my primary concerns be heavenly ones that your kingdom might come on earth, your will be done in me and in those that I love teach me to pray with Jesus for his sake, amen.