Fruit of the Spirit - Peace

The third characteristic of the Fruit of the Spirit is Peace.  Peace is being in a harmonious relationship with God.  Is your inner person wrecked with anxiety and worry when everything falls apart?  Or can you rest in God’s peace?  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” – Gal. 5:22. 

Jesus came into the world to bring us a full relationship and restoration with God.  It cost him His life.  Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we have hope and a future.  When in Christ we are able to relax and be at peace in the middle of the confusion and trials of life.  We are able rest with assurance and have peace.

Jesus gave us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-19, 27-28).  He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27

Believers are to be anxious for nothing.  God promises to guard our hearts and minds.  It is a peace which transcends all understanding (Phil 4:4-7).  That is it is a peace which the world cannot understand.  Its source is the Holy Spirit of God.

How do you exhibit peace in your life?

Do you have a peaceful attitude?

How can you make peace function better in your life?

We have peace by surrendering and yielding ourselves to God’s control (Is. 26:3, Matt. 5:9).  Once we have real peace with God we will be able to make and keep peace with others.  With the Holy Spirit living inside you, you are able to experience the peace of God.

Is your inner person wrecked with anxiety and worry when everything falls apart?

Or can you rest in God’s peace? 

There is no peace for the wicked; however, for believers it is available every time you pray and leave your concerns with God.  Our lives are filled with worry, stress and even fear.  Biblical peace is opposite of all these feelings.  It is resting in God as we remember who He is and trust in Him completely.  There is nothing like the peace of God.  It’s real and never ends, which is very different from the world’s peace.  We can experience God’s peace through the storms of life by remembering who He is and letting Him have control over every part of our lives.  So when going through life’s storms remember God and trust in Him and He will give you peace.  Spend time in prayer and praise God for the fruit of the Holy Spirit – peace.

We are also to be peacemakers.  To be a peacemaker you have to know the Peace Giver.  Mother Teresa said to thank God for His gift of peace.  Preach the peace of Christ as He did.  Show peace to others.  It starts with a smile.  Smile 5 times a day at someone you don’t really want to smile at – do it for peace.  Radiate the peace of God to rid the world of hate.  (Mother Teresa)

Are you a peacemaker?

Do you know the Peace Giver?

Next time we will talk more about the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit.  We still have patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to cover.  Hope to see you here.

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Fruit of the Spirit - Patience

There are 9 Biblical attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit.  In this lesson we will talk about the fourth, which is patience or longsuffering.  These attributes characterize all who truly walk in the Holy Spirit.  All Christian should be producing these in their lives.  We are “being strengthened so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father…” – Col. 1:11.

Definitions for longsuffering:  Patience, steadfastness under provocation, endurance, ability to endure persecution and ill-treatment.

Patience is one of the most difficult areas of a Christian’s life.  Our lives are constantly changing and testing our patience.  Because God is patient, Christians ought to be patient.  Patience is one of God’s attributes.  We often pray for patience.  God has been waiting patiently wanting to give us His patience even before we ask.  God is patient and He desires to give us this quality.  To be patient is to deal lovingly and kindly to those around us.

Patience produces unity in the church, loyalty to your country, harmony in families and community.  It comforts.  It has humility.  It teaches us to forgive.  Patience is being calm and without anger.  Patience waits and is never in a hurry.  Patience has self-control.

Do you have self-control in all circumstances?

Are you humble?

Do you always in a hurry anger?

Do you get angry often?

When we pray for patience, do we really mean it?  We ask God for something and can’t wait until He grants our request.  Remember God’s timing is not our timing.  God may answer our prayer today, tomorrow or next year.  It may even happen long after we have left this life.  We just need to trust God and wait on His timing.  He knows what is best.  God is not in a hurry so why should you be?

Waiting is not easy.  Wait in prayer.  Call on God and plead your case.  Tell Him your difficulties.  Express your confidence in Him.  Then wait in quiet patience.  Don’t complain as Israel did against Moses and never wish you could go back.  Pray that God’s will be done, not yours.

“Patience is not passive: on the contrary it is active; it is concentrated strength.” – Bulwer

Patience is the ability to accept disappointment or delay.  We should smile at setbacks and respond with a pleasant spirit.  Don’t be like others around you who curse and complain.  

Many have short fuses and it take very little to set them off.  There is road rage on the highways and even murder because tempers are lost.  Just be calm, cheerful and relaxed.  It’s not the end of the world.  It’s not life and death.  Have patience in all things, especially yourself.

Do you have a short fuse?

When disappointed, do you get frustrated and angry?

Next time we will talk more about the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit.  We still have kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to cover.  Hope to see you here.

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Fruit of the Spirit - Joy

The second characteristic of the Fruit of the Spirit is Joy.  Joy is a Christian’s word.  Happiness is the world’s word.  The New Testament doesn’t use the word happiness or even promise it.  It uses the word joy.  Happiness is the result of what happens.  Joy comes from deep inside.  It is a spring that never runs dry, no matter what happens.  Only Jesus gives joy.

What is joy?  Joy is the reaction when you are set free!  Jesus did that when He died for us on the cross.  Now we don’t have to pay the price for our sins.  Jesus paid it for us.  So there should be joy in our hearts.  We should live like we are joyful.  Be thankful for the freedom we have and the many blessing we have in this life.  We have joy in God’s grace.  We don’t deserve what he did for us.  If we got what we deserved, we would never, never see heaven.  Doesn’t this make you joyful?

It’s hard to be joyful in the hard times, but we should have joy knowing that God is with us through them.  God uses every trial to help you become stronger in your faith.  No matter how bad things get in this life, God can still heal and deliver us.  He can still restore us, if we are willing to work with Him.  God can restore our joy in Him.  The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength.  Listen and work with His Spirit and He will release joy in you.  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” - James 1:2-4.

The Bible says many, many time to “rejoice”.  To rejoice means have joy and be joyful.  We are commanded to be joyful.  God is on our side and there is no reason we should not be joyful.  “Let all those rejoice who put their trust in you; let them ever shout for joy, because you defend them; let those also who love your name be joyful in you.” – Ps. 5:11. 

We have joy in many ways.  There is joy in prayer, worship, and in love.  We show joy in giving.  God loves a cheerful given.  Show gratitude to God and others by accepting everything with joy.  Never let anything fill you with sorrow and make you forget the joy of the risen Christ.  1 Thess. 5:16 says to rejoice always.

Be joyful singing and praising to God.  “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth; make a loud noise and rejoice, and sing praise.” – Ps 98:4.  You don’t have to carry a tune or have a beautiful voice to sing praises to God.  God looks at our hearts and He wants us to praise Him and be joyful when we do it. 

I love to sing in church and in the car with my radio.  I know my voice could be a lot better, but I sing joyfully from my heart and that’s what God wants.  Then one day when I get to heaven, God will give us a beautiful voice.  Until then He thinks my voice is beautiful and that’s all that matters.

Ways to live with joy:

Laugh a lot and put a smile on someone’s face.

Don’t let your thoughts get you down.

Be thankful in all things.

Strive for your goals and dreams - always have something to look forward to.

Be forgiving not only to others, but to yourself.

Develop healthy relationship with family and friends.

Do things that lift your spirits.

Be optimistic.

Lighten up and don’t be too serious.

Take time to rest and relax – take a vacation.

Pray, read your Bible, obey God, worship and praise God.

Never forget the source of your joy.

How deep does your joy go?

How do others see joy in your life?

How could your life change to be more joyful?

“Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

Come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

And his courts with praise;

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations.”

---  Psalm 100

Next time we will talk more about the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit.  We still have peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to cover.  Hope to see you here.

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Fruit of the Spirit - Love

The Bible tells us there are 9 characteristics of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” – Gal. 5:22.  The first fruit of the Spirit is love.  Actually all the other 9 can be summed up in love.  It seems to be the most important. 

What is love?  Love is being unselfish, having brotherly concern for another, and denying self.  It is being loyal.  It is holding others in high esteem.  It is building them up not tearing them down.  It is being a friend.  It’s wanting the best for someone.  God wants us to learn how to love Him, love ourselves, love one another, and even love our enemies.

We as humans have a problem when it comes to loving one another.  That’s why we need the Holy Spirit to flow through us and enter into our personalities then we can really and truly live up to God’s command to love others.

Jesus promised that when He left this earth He would send the Counselor, the Holy Spirit.  He could not physically stay so He sent His replacement. (John 16:7).  His Spirit would continue to do His work.  “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” – John 16:8.  The Spirit is here to guide and direct us so we will do what is right in God’s eyes.  He will show us how to love.  We are to live by the Spirit so as to not gratify our desires of the sinful nature. (Gal. 5:16). 

Is the Holy Spirit present in your life?  We cannot see or touch the Holy Spirit.  If He is present, He will be in our minds.  Call it your conscience if you want.  God wants us to live by the fruit of the Spirit and not live in our sinful nature.  Living in a sinful nature is: sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, hatred, selfishness, envy, drunkenness, etc. (Gal. 5:19-20).  If we all loved, there would be no desire to do evil.  1 Cor. 13 sums up what it means to love.  In fact it’s called the “love chapter”.  Love is the greatest gift God can give.

Love is patient,
Love is kind and not jealous;
Love does not brag and is not arrogant,
Love does not act unbecomingly;
Love does not seek its own
Love is not provoked,
Love does not take into account a wrong suffered,
Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails… - (1 Cor. 13)

There are two types of love:  the feeling love and the willing love. 

The feeling of love is when you are in love your spouse.  It is when you really, really like something.  We use the word love very loosely.  We say ‘I love chocolate’.  It is to love our own desires and not think of others.

The willing love means we join our will to God’s will.  It means that we consent to God’s commands and want things only if God wills it.  God is entitled to our love.  He gave Himself for us while we were terrible sinners and undeserving.  He laid down His life for us.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16.  We are to love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19).

We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Mark 13:31).  Do you find it hard to love that awful person at work or that mean neighbor next door?  He is lazy.  He is rude.  He is very rich and doesn’t deserve all that he has.  He is a cheater and a bully.  God has given him this position in life.  God has given him the gifts he has.  God has given him free will.  You are not to think harsh thoughts about him, but content with what you have.  God loves him just as much as He loves you.  You yourself are not perfect.  You are rebellious, selfish, and commit many sins.  “There is no one righteous, not even one.” – Rom. 3:10.  Neither he nor you deserve God’s love.  We are to love our enemies and even pray for them. (Luke 6:27-36).  God didn’t say to love the world, but to love one another.

God made us in His image and likeness.  God is love.  We are to love God and obey His commands.  God commands us to be holy as He is holy.  We are to love as God loves.   “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35.

There are many Scripture verses on love.  Here are just a few:

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" - John 15:13.

"For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another" - 1 John 3:11.

“Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back” - Luke 6:35.

"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome" - 1 John 5:3.

God has loved us for all eternity.  He loved us and our enemies before time began and will continue to love us throughout the ages, forever and ever.

Can you say that the Spirit’s fruit of love is found in your life?

As a believer you are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30); you are filled with the Spirit as one is drunk with wine (Eph. 5:18); you are to walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25); you are to yield yourself to the Spirit’s leadership (Rom. 8:14); you are to submit to His leadership as the Holy Spirit guides (John 16:7-15).

If you are a child of God you are going to bear the fruit of the Spirit and that fruit must be evident in your life.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” – Phil. 4:8.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievance you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” – Col. 3:12.

This fruit of the Spirit list is what a Christian grows into, over time.  It doesn’t happen instantly.   It’s a process.  When you accept Jesus as your Savior and receive the Holy Spirit, you are a new creation.  You are then not controlled by sin.  You can’t change your attitudes by yourself.  The Holy Spirit is there to help you, guide you and teach you how to live a Christ-like life.  First you must love God for yourself.  Then you will be able to love others as God commands.  Christians don’t have to ask God for the fruit of the Spirit.  We have it available to us.  We already have it.  We just need to put it into practice.

Does your fruit of the Spirit look appetizing?

Is your love unconditional?

Note:  God loves everyone, but probably prefers 'fruit of the spirit' over 'a religious nut!'

Next time we will talk about more characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit.  We still have joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to cover.  Hope to see you here.

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Psalm 23

Psalm 23 is the most popular chapter in the Old Testament.  It was written by David who was a shepherd in his early years, now he is probably much older.  He is at peace and lives in tranquility.  This chapter shows his confidence and satisfaction of the care of his great God.  It shows that God is our personal Shepherd. 

Why is God compared to a shepherd?  Sheep have a natural tendency to wander off and get lost.  As believers we do the same thing.  We have a tendency to go astray. “For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies…” – Rom. 7:5.  We follow the desires of our flesh and pursue prideful lives.  Sheep are basically helpless without a shepherd.  We too are helpless without the Lord to protect and care for us.

Jesus declared that He is our Shepherd and gave His life for us.  See the parable about the lost sheep in Luke 15:1-7.  We need a shepherd just like the sheep.  Psalm 23 tells us He is our Shepherd who supplies our every need, our leader and guide, and our Protector.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my Shepherd ---- That’s Relationship

I shall not be in want ---- That’s Supply

He makes me to lie down in green pastures ---- That’s Rest

He leads me beside the still waters ---- That’s Refreshment

He restores my soul ---- That’s Healing

He guides me in the paths of righteousness ---- That’s Guidance

For His name sake ---- That’s Purpose

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death ---- That’s Testing

I will fear no evil ---- That’s Protection

For You are with me ---- That’s Faithfulness

Your rod and your staff they comfort me ---- That’s Discipline

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies ---- That’s Hope

You anoint my head with oil ---- That’s Consecration

My cup overflows ---- That’s Abundance

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ---- That’s Blessings

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord ---- That’s Security

Forever ---- That’s Eternity

The Lord is my Shepherd.  Is He yours? 

Do you have confidence in God’s care as David did?

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