Introduction

Welcome to A Piece of Orange, which has been written out of a lifelong love of poetry. I have found poetry to be the best way for me to express my thoughts and feelings, and to record what I have learned from Bible stories and messages I have heard over the years.

This book of poems is written around the theme of the fruit of the Spirit as listed in the Bible, in Galatians 5:22-23. But why the title A Piece of Orange, you might ask? The Galatians 5 passage says, ‘The fruit of the Spirit is …’ not, ‘The fruit of the Spirit are…’ (my emphasis). It takes a bit of thought to understand how nine fruit can be one, but the orange displays it so well. Each element of the fruit of the Spirit is seen as a segment of an orange, and they are all covered by the same skin and together make one complete fruit. They are not a pick ’n’ mix as found in a fruit bowl, where one could leave some pieces out of one’s selection. As one takes an orange, all the segments are present. It is the same with the Holy Spirit’s fruit. He produces each piece (segment) within us; He doesn’t leave any piece out. When we have the Holy Spirit within us, He produces each of the fruit, and all will be evident in our lives to a greater or lesser extent.

I imagine that you are likely to leave this book sitting on your coffee table and will dip into it, reading a few poems at a time. I designed it to be a reflective book where I hope you allow yourself time not only to read a poem, but also to encourage your imagination to picture the scene, hear the conversation being had, muse on what it says to you and respond as you feel led. To help you with this, there is a short reflection at the end of each chapter containing three questions to think about, and a longer activity that might involve some creativity or a deeper reflection on a particular poem. There are a couple of blank pages at the end of each chapter for you to record your responses if desired.

Maybe you want to read the poems with friends, or perhaps you belong to a small group that would like to consider the fruit of the Spirit in more depth. In the appendix you will find a longer study for each chapter which contains relevant Bible verses as well as discussion questions.

However you choose to read this book, my hope is that you will be encouraged by its content, inspired to further develop some of the characteristics, supported to pray with thanks and not afraid to tell God honestly how you feel. (If you need more encouragement to speak openly with God, read the Psalms in the Bible and see how King David shared every thought and feeling with Him.) But most of all, my hope is that you hear how much God loves you and wants to walk your life journey with you.

As Paul writes in Ephesians 3:16-19, my prayer for you as you read this collection of poems is:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

So grab that favourite beverage, pull up a chair and take a few minutes to dip into A Piece of Orange.

Part 1

Fruit of the Spirit

As we begin our journey through the fruit of the Spirit, let’s start by looking at the orange itself with its nine segments intact. As you read, seek to meet the Holy Spirit Himself, whose fruit it is, and be encouraged that it is His work within you that produces the fruit, not your own efforts.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

(Galatians 5:22-23, CEB)

Come Holy Spirit

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.

(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Come Holy Spirit, fill us afresh, make us new,

Come Holy Spirit, do what  only You can do,

Come Holy Spirit, give to us Your life-giving breath,

Come Holy Spirit, release us from the stronghold of sin and death,

Come Holy Spirit, let Your fire consume us and make us holy,

Come Holy Spirit, keep us humble, keep us lowly,

Come Holy Spirit, make the Father and the Son known to us,

Come Holy Spirit, blow Your wisdom in gentle breeze and quickening gust,

Come Holy Spirit, give us the gifts You desire for us, equip your saints,

Come Holy Spirit, keep us serving without growing faint,

Come Holy Spirit, let in each one of us Your seed grow, blossom and fruit,

Come Holy Spirit, as in us You dwell let Your presence take root,

Come Holy Spirit, make us into who God always planned us to be,

Come Holy Spirit, give us words of faith as we fall in prayer to our knees.

The Gift of Fruit

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

We often think that the fruit of the Spirit is an expectation,

Something to aim for, qualities to work to develop.

As if our efforts alone will help them grow deep within us

And cause these Spirit-filled characteristics to embed and then to well up.

We try to develop His fruit on our own but it doesn’t really work,

We don’t manage to sustain and they grow small or go bad.

On our own we don’t have His nutrients, His gardener’s hands

To grow them to rich ripe fruit as if He had.

If only we realised the fruit is naturally displayed in us

When we allow the Holy Spirit to come and live within.

For, just like a tree, as He takes root and is allowed to blossom,

Flowers turn to godly fruit where once before stood sin.

The fruit of the Spirit is not an expectation but a gift,

Placed in the garden of our heart which had been overgrown, rough ground.

Now tilled, watered and with weeds and nettles dug out,

The ground in which the Spirit stands is wholesome, productive and sound.

So don’t keep trying in your own strength to bear spiritual fruit

But rather let the Holy Spirit do all that is required.

He knows what to do, when and exactly how,

If beautiful life-giving fruit is to grow as God desires.

Just be willing to let Him work on the ground that is your heart,

Be prepared for Him to dig up what negatively impacts your soil.

Let Him put into the ground what He knows you need to bring forth fruit,

And leave it all to Him – the seed, the time, the love and the toil.

Fruit of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

(Galatians 5:22-23, CEB)

As the Spirit dwells within us He nurtures the seeds planted in the soil of our heart,

Growing trees to bear His fruit, full of God’s goodness and for Him set apart.

Love, an affection both profound and deeply rooted, wells up within us for the One who created all,

Giving the capacity and heart to love Him and others beyond where duty calls.

Joy, the confidence that God is in control of our lives no matter what the circumstance,

An assurance that we won’t be overcome, a release calling our soul to get up and dance.

Peace, a completeness and stability, no matter what, in the One who is peace Himself,

No war within, but rather mind, soul and spirit overflowing with godly health.

Patience, a perseverance which will never lose belief in the One, or those still far away,

No matter how long it takes we faithfully stand before God and earnestly pray.

Kindness, an attitude that is sympathetic, charitable and selfless,

Seeking ways to serve others, to love, to honour, to cherish, to bless.

Goodness, a reflection of Christ and His grace, godliness and purity,

The Spirit behind acts of kindness that stem from compassion and maturity.

Faithfulness, an unswerving commitment to God from a place of reliance and trust,

Sticking with the One who Himself is faithful, gracious, merciful and just.

Gentleness, the attitude displayed as we help others on their journey called life,

The gentle whisper and listening ear in the midst of their greatest strife.

Self-control, committed to the mastery of our every thought, action and word,

In response to the knowledge of who God is and the eternal promises made and heard.

The fruit promised to us when the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts to reside,

As we humbly and wholeheartedly accept that, for us, the Saviour Christ bled and died.

A Piece of Orange

If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.

(Leviticus 26:3-4)

God is specific with His use of words and so the fruit of the Spirit ‘is’ not ‘are’,

For the elements are not a pick ’n’ mix of different fruits but are segments within one.

Like an orange, the pieces on their own do not make a complete fruit,

But when held together in the skin of a person, the work of the Spirit is done.

Each piece tastes sweet when allowed to ripen within the skin alongside the rest,

For growth cannot happen outside individually but only together as one unit.

And as each piece grows and develops, the skin holding them grows too,

It’s the same within us as the fruit of the Spirit pushes us towards a perfect fit.

There is no fruit bowl for us to pick which fruit we like and then leave the rest,

For the Spirit is the One who places each within our heart, within our skin.

It is He who nurtures the growth of each segment; it is His work within us,

But it is we who determine the level of our fruitfulness through our responses to Him.

Each piece is the promise of God given to us through His Holy Spirit,

The manifestation of His presence in our lives each and every day.

He knows we cannot hope to become anything like Him on our own,

We need His filling, His presence, His guidance to stay on the narrow way.

So we are called to bear fruit – fruit that is ripe, fresh and vibrant,

Each segment full of goodness, life and sitting in its rightful place.

And as each segment contains the DNA of the Holy Spirit,

Each one carries God’s unique, but recognisable, and glorious eternal taste.

Wait for the Harvest

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. (2 Corinthians 9:10)

It can take much effort and time for the fruit of the Spirit to grow to ripeness,

It can seem an eternity before the pleasure of taste;

And if not careful, that which has fallen to the ground becomes tempting to eat;

After all, to leave it would surely be a waste.

Little do they realise, those that seek what comes easily from the tree,

That there is a reason it takes no effort to pick and eat,

For that which does not come from the Spirit of God

Is tasteless, bitter, poisonous, although it looks so sweet.

The enemy would have us believe that that which is fallen does us no harm,

For everyone is eating it and seems to be alright,

But we don’t see what is going on, on the inside,

The guilt, the shame, the self-loathing hidden from sight.

For what is on the ground picks up dirt, bacteria, disease,

And is designed by God to feed those lower in the food chain,

For He keeps for humankind the best His Spirit has to offer,

The fruit that, if allowed to reach maturity, is anything but plain.

The fruit of His Spirit is full of flavour, rich in goodness,

Vibrant in colour, succulent, sweet and refreshing,

If we let the Gardener pick it at just the right time,

We will experience the whole of God’s sweet blessing.

And in addition to the blessings we will receive ourselves,

There will be blessings for others from the fruit that we bear,

For as the fruit’s goodness is reaped from the tree that is our life,

Others, through us, experience God’s love, compassion and care.

Do as I Have Done to You

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

As your Father I have shown the fruit of My Spirit in all My dealings with you,

And I sent My Son to show you My character in its perfect glory,

So now I ask you, if you belong to Me as much as you say,

To make these qualities evident throughout your own life story.

I have shown you love so costly and beyond comparison,

Where I gave up life itself for you and I would gladly do it again,

So how much are you willing to give to another of yourself,

Without counting the cost, loving always, not just now and then?

I have so much joy in you, I watch and smile and laugh with you,

For you make My heart burst and you are the apple of My eye,

So being full of the joy of your heavenly Father,

Show it in all circumstances so others have to ask the question, ‘Why?’

My Spirit brings peace just as My Son brought it to His disciples in the upper room,

Even in the darkest and scariest place and time it settles your racing heart;

Come alongside others in their darkest moments and their deepest pits,

And share My peace so that the enemy will from them flee and depart.

I have shown you patience beyond what you could ever deserve,

Because forgiveness is in My blood and mercy runs through My veins;

As you know what it is to be forgiven, patiently bear with others,

And let them know day after day that I can remove their hurt and pains.

My every touch is full of kindness, always looking to go above and beyond,

Not just meeting your needs but giving so much because I value you,

So share that kindness through the way you listen, the words you choose to use,

The thoughts you have about others, and in the helpful things you do.

As God, I am full of goodness, no bitterness or evil thought comes from Me,

But only that which is wholesome and eternally right,

So let goodness live in your heart and influence the attitudes you display,

And as you seek to be wholesome towards others, keep grace and truth firmly in sight.

I have been faithful through thick and thin, and even when you have let me down,

I have remembered My promises and My covenant to stay no matter what;

Show the same stickability with My church, your family and friends,

For faithfulness, especially when circumstances cry, ‘No,’ speaks of such a lot.

I have always handled you with gentleness, My touch so loving and light,

Softly tending to what within you is broken and bruised,

And I call you to treat others with gentle and healing hands,

That restore, rebuild and regenerate that which had become abused.

My Son Jesus showed you the power that comes when you have self-control,

As He only did what I told Him to and thus gave all people a way back to Me,

So you should do the same and manage your responses to My call and the world around you,

So that I am never lost in what you portray, and I am visible to the eye that chooses to see.

My Spirit is placed within you to nurture your character and the fruit it bears,

To bring honour and glory through you to My holy and righteous name,

He is the voice you hear that calls out how I would respond if I were you,

And encourages, with the gift of His fruit, for you to do the same.

The Orchard

Tend an orchard and you’ll have fruit to eat.

Serve the Master’s interests

and you’ll receive honor that’s sweet.

(Proverbs 27:18, TPT)

Spring sees the beginning as the buds begin to shoot anew,

Fresh green leaves and the extension to branches are heavenly clues

As to what God has in store for us, what gifting He is shaping within us,

The seed He planted long ago quietly, gently and without fuss.

He sends the rain and sun in perfect measure to urge us to grow,

The wind comes to strengthen our trunk as through the orchard it blows,

For God gives us the nutrients we need to lengthen and establish our roots,

And the weathers to develop, within us, the capacity to bear fruit.

Summer sees the blossom pollenated by the birds, insects and bees,

Pollen taken to, and brought from, the exact needed tree,

That through our relationships within His church, God can fertilise our blossom,

Nothing left to chance or fortune, for with God nothing is ever random.

The summer sun calls the tree to reach heavenward with branches raised in praise,

Turning blossom into fruit is the tree’s focus through long, light-filled days,

As God nurtures each one with warmth and goodness to enjoy,

As everything is made ready for the tree, its fruit soon to deploy.

Autumn comes and the timing is right for the fruit to be picked and prepared,

As the harvester seeks out those to be discarded and those to be shared,

And God seeks to do the same with us as we bear fruit in its time,

To Him, and to others, bringing goodness, pleasure and flavour sublime

For autumn means harvesting of the fruit before it is too late,

And turning it into jams, pies, pickles and more for a later date;

God gives us opportunity to bear fruit for many different causes and persons,

That we may become of ourselves, through service, His best and perfect version.

Winter, when autumn leaves have fallen and branches are left stark and bare

Gives the tree rest and, for the next year, helps it to prepare;

God decides how much pruning to do as He sees the tree’s greatest need,

And spends the wintry silence storing and protecting next year’s seed.

The seasons are evident and purposeful in the life of a tree,

And it’s the same in our walk with God if we are, in our lives, amazing fruit to see.

The times of emptiness and silence are just as essential as those of growth, fruit and sun,

For God’s work of perfection and fruitfulness, in us, is not yet completed or done.

A Burning Fire Within

He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

(Matthew 3:11)

I sit here watching the burning logs as darkness falls around,

And reassuring is the crackling of the wood and its occasional popping sound.

For although the log burner and its fire is small compared to the room it attempts to fill,

Its light dispels the shadows and its warmth overcomes the chill.

And as I look at the flames rising high with exuberance behind the thick glass door,

It reminds me of the Holy Spirit, within me, flaming into being love, peace, joy and so much more.

For as the flames engulf and burn through the wood, light and heat in abundance emerge,

And as I allow the Spirit within me to burn up what’s dead, His power will rise and surge.

And just as the burning flames give light and heat and the embers a warm steady glow,

So it is when the Spirit is working within us, His fruit is seen and its juices flow.

For it is the work that the Spirit does inside us which produces seed, then flower, then fruit,

And our lives are then more Christlike and the fruit of humankind is set on mute.

Holy Spirit, I give You permission to burn within me and take out what is not of You,

And grow Your fruit inside my thoughts and outside through my words and actions too.

For I want my life to be full of Your fruit’s fragrance, sweetness, health and flavour,

So I can be overflowing to others with Your outpouring, presence, blessing and favour.

Reflection

• Read again the poems ‘The Gift of Fruit’ and ‘Fruit of the Spirit’. How do you allow the Holy Spirit to develop His fruit within you? Which segments of fruit do you think you need the Holy Spirit to work on more with you?
• ‘A Piece of Orange’ visualises the fruit as singular, ie segments within an orange rather than a bowl of different fruit. If you were to describe pictorially the nine characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit, what picture would you use?
• ‘The Orchard’ describes the different seasons we experience in the development of the fruit of the Spirit within us. Which season do you think you are in? What signs do you see that suggest you are in that particular season?

Activity

In ‘A Burning Fire Within’, a log burner is used as a means of expressing the Holy Spirit doing His work within us. Draw an object you would use to illustrate the same theme. Label its parts and write how they express the work of the Holy Spirit.