Heavenly Father,
We thank you for all the gifts you have given us. You have given us the chance to bear fantastic fruits in your name. Please help to cultivate the fruits of the Holy Spirit: within us. Help us grow in the self-sacrificing love that you taught us through not least through your sacrifice on the cross.
Encourage us to grow in love for you and our neighbours, our friends and enemies, and to diminish our love for the wrong things such as money. Help us to show the love you have shown us to everyone as a good example and so that your love is known and praised throughout the world.
Please help us to grow in joy and thankfulness for everything you have done, to be joyous and full of praise for you always. Help us to appreciate all of your greatness and to grow in faith of the plans you have for our future with you. Help us to share this joy with everyone around us.
Please help us to grow in peace, knowing that you have saved us and are protecting us. You have freed us from the slavery of fear and the condemnation of hell and shown us the true spiritual peace that is in you. Help us to not fear and to direct others to the greatest peace, that you give.
Please help us grow these fruits and more. All glory and praise to your precious name Lord Jesus.
Amen.
Sunday 3 December 2017
Saturday 2 December 2017
Nine Fruits of the Spirit - Part 1
John 15:5,8 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
To follow on from my last post about being watered with the Holy Spirit to bear fruit I wanted to go into more depth with these spiritual fruits. It's quite in depth so I will break it down into parts.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
1. Love
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
There are many examples of love in the Bible, it fits as first on our list as it is also the first and great commandment: to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul strength and mind and the second great commandment of loving our neighbour as ourselves. Other important mentions include loving our brother, friends and the most touching being to love our enemies.
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Most of the reference to love are good but we are warned against loving the wrong things: such as vanity, ourselves, sleep, pleasure, wine, darkness, evil and death. The thing to watch out for most is the love of money, which has the worst thing said about it: being described as the root of all evil.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Love is practiced by putting others before yourself, the more you love the more you will be willing to sacrifice. Jesus best demonstrated it by making the ultimate sacrifice to save us from our sins. We should practice this by putting God and everyone else above ourselves.
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
2. Joy
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
God wants his children to always be happy and rejoice in Him as the source of our happiness. We can describe this joy as being thankful for what he has done for us and to enjoy his gifts. There are so many great things He has given us and done for us, it is hard to count, so we should set aside time to reflect upon this and to be thankful for the greatness of God, new things will come out daily.
Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Praise God for giving us salvation! This is the first and primary thing that we should be thankful for: God has overcome the world and saved us from the pit we dug for ourselves and has opened the door to us. He has given us the light of life and enabled us to experience delights beyond measure.
Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
We have yet to experience the greatest joy of being with Him in paradise. We should remember to stay hopeful for this and remember just how great a future He has for us in His plans: eternal happiness is given to us and what a gift that is to await, we should be as children counting down until the arrival of Christmas! How much better is the gift of God compared to the gifts of men!
Luke 6:21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
3. Peace
Judges 6:23 And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
Peace in the Biblical sense is the absence of fear, worry and anxiety. God has given us his assurance of salvation and so we should put our trust in Him with faith and no longer worry about worldly things, and ultimately death. We can rest, assured knowing that He is in control and has a plan for us.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Jesus is the prince of peace, thanks to him we no longer have to fear anything. When unsaved, the first thing to fear should be God, because His wrath is upon the children of disobedience and they are at a very real risk of hell with no such assurance as His children. When we have accepted Him, His love casts out the fear and replaces it with peace.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
The world may offer peace in various forms, for example absence from war, even medication and drugs can make people more peaceful, but this is only a mere worldly form of peace that is not a deep-down peace of the spirit, nor is it lasting. Be wary of worldly offers of peace as they are not all that they are cracked up to be. True peace comes from the prince of peace, anything else is a lie.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Psalm 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
To follow on from my last post about being watered with the Holy Spirit to bear fruit I wanted to go into more depth with these spiritual fruits. It's quite in depth so I will break it down into parts.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
1. Love
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
There are many examples of love in the Bible, it fits as first on our list as it is also the first and great commandment: to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul strength and mind and the second great commandment of loving our neighbour as ourselves. Other important mentions include loving our brother, friends and the most touching being to love our enemies.
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Most of the reference to love are good but we are warned against loving the wrong things: such as vanity, ourselves, sleep, pleasure, wine, darkness, evil and death. The thing to watch out for most is the love of money, which has the worst thing said about it: being described as the root of all evil.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Love is practiced by putting others before yourself, the more you love the more you will be willing to sacrifice. Jesus best demonstrated it by making the ultimate sacrifice to save us from our sins. We should practice this by putting God and everyone else above ourselves.
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
2. Joy
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
God wants his children to always be happy and rejoice in Him as the source of our happiness. We can describe this joy as being thankful for what he has done for us and to enjoy his gifts. There are so many great things He has given us and done for us, it is hard to count, so we should set aside time to reflect upon this and to be thankful for the greatness of God, new things will come out daily.
Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Praise God for giving us salvation! This is the first and primary thing that we should be thankful for: God has overcome the world and saved us from the pit we dug for ourselves and has opened the door to us. He has given us the light of life and enabled us to experience delights beyond measure.
Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
We have yet to experience the greatest joy of being with Him in paradise. We should remember to stay hopeful for this and remember just how great a future He has for us in His plans: eternal happiness is given to us and what a gift that is to await, we should be as children counting down until the arrival of Christmas! How much better is the gift of God compared to the gifts of men!
Luke 6:21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
3. Peace
Judges 6:23 And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
Peace in the Biblical sense is the absence of fear, worry and anxiety. God has given us his assurance of salvation and so we should put our trust in Him with faith and no longer worry about worldly things, and ultimately death. We can rest, assured knowing that He is in control and has a plan for us.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Jesus is the prince of peace, thanks to him we no longer have to fear anything. When unsaved, the first thing to fear should be God, because His wrath is upon the children of disobedience and they are at a very real risk of hell with no such assurance as His children. When we have accepted Him, His love casts out the fear and replaces it with peace.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
The world may offer peace in various forms, for example absence from war, even medication and drugs can make people more peaceful, but this is only a mere worldly form of peace that is not a deep-down peace of the spirit, nor is it lasting. Be wary of worldly offers of peace as they are not all that they are cracked up to be. True peace comes from the prince of peace, anything else is a lie.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Psalm 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
Part 2 >>
Prayer for Watering
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for sharing your Holy Spirit and your word with us and making it possible for us to make offerings of fruits worthy of repentance. We are thankful that you have grafted us in to your precious tree of life rooted in you.
Please continue to care for us to help us grow big and strong: prune off our bad parts and feed us with your clear pure water of Spirit to fatten and ripen our olives with nutritious and precious oil to fuel our lamps. Let the storehouses overflow with good fruits belonging to you for the day of harvest.
Please keep growing those rooted in you. All praise and glory to your tree of life name Lord Jesus.
Amen.
Thank you for sharing your Holy Spirit and your word with us and making it possible for us to make offerings of fruits worthy of repentance. We are thankful that you have grafted us in to your precious tree of life rooted in you.
Please continue to care for us to help us grow big and strong: prune off our bad parts and feed us with your clear pure water of Spirit to fatten and ripen our olives with nutritious and precious oil to fuel our lamps. Let the storehouses overflow with good fruits belonging to you for the day of harvest.
Please keep growing those rooted in you. All praise and glory to your tree of life name Lord Jesus.
Amen.
Growing Spiritual Fruit
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
We can all nourish the the Holy Spirit within us by reading and studying the words of the Holy Bible, it contains the very words of God which are mighty and bring faith by hearing and life by believing. When scriptures is written on our hearts and we live by them we are filled with the Spirit. The Bible is the inspired word of God, written and preserved by the Holy Spirit, the living word.
Ephesians 6:3 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand... 17, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
When man lives not on bread alone, but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, arm ourselves to do battle against the devil and to yield every kind of good work as the fruit of the Spirit. Man is often likened to a tree: we hear of gentiles grafted in to the tree of life with the root being God, and any bad bits that come out are pruned back to increase the harvest of good fruits.
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Meditating day and night in the law of the Lord brings forth both fruit and prosperity. The water is figurative for the Holy Spirit flowing through the tree and into the fruit to make it good and juicy.
Isaiah 32:15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
We can all nourish the the Holy Spirit within us by reading and studying the words of the Holy Bible, it contains the very words of God which are mighty and bring faith by hearing and life by believing. When scriptures is written on our hearts and we live by them we are filled with the Spirit. The Bible is the inspired word of God, written and preserved by the Holy Spirit, the living word.
Ephesians 6:3 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand... 17, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
When man lives not on bread alone, but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, arm ourselves to do battle against the devil and to yield every kind of good work as the fruit of the Spirit. Man is often likened to a tree: we hear of gentiles grafted in to the tree of life with the root being God, and any bad bits that come out are pruned back to increase the harvest of good fruits.
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Meditating day and night in the law of the Lord brings forth both fruit and prosperity. The water is figurative for the Holy Spirit flowing through the tree and into the fruit to make it good and juicy.
Isaiah 32:15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
There are many different fruits that the Holy Spirit yields from dry wilderness, continue to let God water you with his words, plunge into the keep growing and yielding increasingly bigger and better fruits in him.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
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