THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: JOY

 

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: JOY

Gal. 5:22 The fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy,…… NLT

There is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is an emotional, positive elation in response to one’s circumstances. Joy is an enduring contentment and elation regardless of one’s circumstances. Happiness comes and goes; joy is constant. Happiness is rooted in our emotions; joy is rooted in our spiritual nature.

Joy is found in the heart of those who obey God. John 15:9-11 Joy naturally flows from obedience. We know that it pleases God when we obey Him. It honors God when we obey Him. It makes a difference for God when we obey Him. Our hearts are blessed knowing that we are right with God in soul and practice.

Joy is found in take to heart what Jesus says. It is knowing that what Jesus says is true and embracing it in our lives. It is believing our sins are forgiven and living like it. thaMatt. 9:2 It is believing that Jesus is in control and there is nothing to fear. Matt. 6:50 It is believing that Christ has not lost control of the world, but has overcome it. John 16:33 Joy is believing that Jesus has never, or ever will, leave or forsake us in this world. Matt. 28:20 It is believing that Jesus is the way, truth, and life, that He is the key to knowing God on a personal level. John 14:6 It is believing that Jesus is coming back for us just as He said He would. John 14:1-4 When we take to heart what Jesus said, there is a calm assurance that floods our soul that everything is okay.

Joy is having a calm assurance that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. It is observing and participating in what Christ has done and is doing in our lives. It is living in the forgiveness He gives to us. Our pa ost sins are washed away in His precious, shed blood on Calvary. We don’t live like the unforgiven. We live like children of God who are now in Christ righteous and holy before God. I Cor. 1:30 Oh, what joy floods the soul of the redeemed!

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: LOVE

 

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: LOVE

Gal. 5:22 The fruit of the Spirit is love…...NLT

Love is the universal language. God is love, and He has instilled in every person the need to love and be loved. We use the term to describe our affections. We muddy the waters when we use it too often. We use it to describe our affections for objects, activities, what entertains us, animals, people, and God. We use it so freely that it becomes confusing as to where our true affections lie. What does the Apostle Paul mean when he says that the fruit of the Spirit is love?

Paul uses the highest form of love known to man, agape love. He describes it for us in I Cor. 13:4-8a. It is the love of God and the love we should aspire to live by with one another. In I John 4:7-10, John emphases the love of God and our need to be vessels of His love. Jesus emphasized the fact that loving others is not an option, it’s a command. John 15:12

It’s easy to love those who are lovable, but what about those who are unlovable? What about those who do not love us back? What about those who are mean-spirited and treat us awful? What about those who do us harm? We are to love them as well. But how is that possible? There are a few things we need to remember.

We can’t love others until we first know we are loved. We find in Christ the source and means to genuinely love. We learn through loving Him that we can love others and even ourselves. The more time we spend humbly before the Lord, the greater will be our capacity for love. God is love, and His supply of love never runs dry. One of our most basic needs is to feast on His love. When we are filled with God’s love, we understand that no one is beyond the scope and reach of God’s love. Jesus died for every person who has ever lived. John 3:16 How can we withhold love from those whom Jesus died for?

Love restores broken relationships. It is evidenced in our forgiving those who have wronged us or are doing wrong. It also is striving where it is possible to right the wrongs we have done to others. It is being gracious and compassionate to others. It is the norm for a true child of God.

MAKE DISCIPLES

 

MAKE DISCIPLES

Matt. 28:19-20

We have a mandate from the Lord. We are to go into all the world and make disciples of Christ. The Scriptures are very clear. We have a job to do. We are to be salt and light in the world. We are to be ambassadors of Christ in the world. We are to be the mouthpiece of God to the world. It is not enough to talk about Jesus and to sing about Him in our churches. We are to go into the world and make a difference for Christ in the world.

The world is made up of all kinds of people. Some people we like and are comfortable with. Some people don’t like us or our message. Some people will go out of their way to make life miserable for us. Yet, Jesus did not tell us to go just to those we are okay with. We are to go to those who appear to be unlovable as well. We are not to avoid the downtrodden. We are not to ignore those who are outcasts of society.

We are to go into the world not to pad our church rolls. We are to go to make disciples. Making disciples is often a slow and difficult task. It requires us to become invested in the life of others. It requires us to pray much over those we endeavor to help.

We are to strive to help others not to make them feel good about themselves. We strive to teach them to obey God in everything. How they feel about themselves will flow from their obedience, not precede it. We are not to invest in people’s lives to make ourselves feel good either. We reach out to help others because Jesus sent someone into our life to reach out to us.

Go. Go into the world and make disciples, but when you do, be assured you will not be going alone. The Lord promises to be with you each step that you take into the world to help you reach those who are ready to be saved.

MAKE GOD KNOWN 2

 

MAKE GOD KNOWN 2

John 4:35 “Do you think the work of harvesting will not begin until the summer ends four months from now? Look around you! Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready for now for the harvest.” NLT

Are you a people watcher? Do you notice how people look and act in public? Do you draw conclusions about them based upon what you see? Be honest. We all do it don’t we? The next time you catch yourself judging a person by what you see, consider this. Everyone that you see is a soul for whom Jesus died. Everyone needs the Lord, regardless of what they may appear to be. Jesus told His disciples to look at the harvest field.

Jesus said that there are people all around us who are ready to receive Him. We don’t know who they are, but they are there. It should move us to treat people with kindness. We should strive to be patient and understanding. We should be empathetic and compassionate. We should treat others with gentleness and self-control. How we treat others may very well be what they need to want to give their lives over to Jesus. If we treat them harshly and with rudeness, it may be what keeps them away from the Lord. Don’t be the reason why someone doesn’t come to the Lord.

Jesus also said we are to pray for the harvest field. Luke 10:2-3 When was the last time you asked the Lord to prepare hearts for salvation? When was the last time you asked the Lord to send more people into the world with the Gospel message? The need for the Gospel message is great. The need for people who are not afraid to speak out for the Lord is great. The need for people to pray is great. If you are not able to go or unwilling to go, will you pray?

Jesus commands all of us to go, not just pastors, missionaries, and teachers. We all have our story to tell of how and why we were saved. Who have you told your story? You don’t need a college degree in the Bible to go, show, and tell what Jesus has done for you. Someone needs to hear your story. People are ready for someone to tell them about Jesus. Will you tell them? Will you help someone come to know Jesus before it is too late for them?

MAKE GOD KNOWN

 

MAKE GOD KNOWN

John 4:34 Then Jesus explained, “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.” NLT

Jesus had just had an encounter with the Samaritan woman. The disciples were gone during the encounter as they had gone looking for some food. When they got back, they wanted Jesus to eat but He informed them that He had been feeding on spiritual food, doing God’s work.

We are to make Jesus known to a lost and dying world. Instead of living for the momentary pleasures and comforts of life, we are to live to reach as many people as we can for Christ. God does not want to see anyone spend eternity in hell. He knows what horrors await those who go there. He did not create hell to be a good place to be. In Matthew 24:51, Jesus describes it a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. There will be intense, agonizing groaning that will last eternally. There will be a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual torment that will never go away. In Revelations 20:11-15, it is described as a lack of unquenchable fire, and in Rev. 19:20 it’s described as a lake of sulfur.

God loves us and knows our time on earth is short (Jer. 8:20). He has no desire to see anyone have to spend eternity in such torment, but will not force anyone to stay out of there. He provides for us the only way we can to avoid hell (John 3:16; 14:6). All who go to hell will be there by choice.

Jesus also said that His nourishment was to finish the work God gave Him to do. Jesus’ work was finished when He died for our sins and conquered death. Jesus would not be distracted or kept from the cross. What drives you? What has God given you to do? Are you determined to finish the task? Are you doing all you can do to reach those the Lord has given you to reach? Are you in the business of making disciples (Matt. 28:19-20).

Don’t let anyone or anything keep you from serving the Lord. Do your best at what you are given to do. Eternity awaits and you may very well may be the difference maker as to whether someone makes it to heaven or hell.

DO WE HONOR GOD? 2

 

DO WE HONOR GOD? 2

Matt. 7:16-17 “You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You don’t pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles. A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit.” NLT

There are several observations we can make from our Scripture text for today.

It does not honor God when we prevent the Spirit from changing our hearts. The genuineness of one’s faith is seen in the life changes that are seen in one’s life. If the Spirit controls our lives, we will bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), not the fruit of a worldly heart (Gal. 5:19-21).

It does not honor God when we come to worship Him without living for Him the other six days of the week. It is a mockery, shows great disrespect for who God is, and is hypocrisy to pretend to worship God while living like the devil. We need to examine why we gather with others for worship services. True worship is exposing our hearts before God and letting Him do whatever needs to be done to make us right with Him. It is Christ-focused, nothing more, nothing less.

It does not honor God when we try to live by anything other than grace. Eph. 2:8-9 We do not try to save ourselves by our good deeds. We don’t try to save ourselves by impressing others. We don’t save ourselves by our accomplishments in this live. We can only be saved by the grace of God poured out upon us through Christ.

It does not honor God when we misrepresent Him before man. What honors God is our being real about our faith. Not only do we do good, but we don’t try to pretend to be so good that we never mess up, react in ungodly ways, have fits of anger, say mean things, etc. We are not perfectly godly people. We have never been and will never be as long as we are on earth. We honor God when we are honest about our failures and strive to improve upon them.

DO WE HONOR GOD?

 

DO WE HONOR GOD?

Matt. 7:15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, bur are really wolves that will tear you apart.” NLT

A false prophet is anyone who tries to pass off as spiritual truth what hon not true according to God’s Word. There always has been and always will be false prophets. These people are self-serving and self-promoting. They prey upon people for their own advantage usually disguised as a church. They are everywhere truth is proclaimed. They are even found in churches who profess to believe what the Bible declares. One of the questions we must ask ourselves is, “Do we honor God with our lips?” Are we truth proclaimers or false prophets?

We do not honor God when our actions do not back up our words. In reality, when we do not live what we proclaim, we are lying to others. We are pretenders. We are false prophets when we don’t practice what we preach.

We do not honor God when we use God’s name in vain. How can we say we love the Lord when we disrespect His holy name by using it so loosely?

We do not honor the Lord when we use the language of the world. I have heard many professing members of the faith use street language over the years. Should we be doing that? How can we in good faith speak the language of the world instead of the language of heaven?

We do not honor the Lord when we tear people down instead of building them up. The Lord came to save people, not destroy them. If we can’t say anything good about someone, it is better to not say anything than to judge them with our words.

We do not honor the Lord when we take credit for what He has done. We do not honor the Lord when we remain silent when we have been given opportunity to speak out for Him. We do not honor God when we take for granted and neglect our great salvation.

Do you honor God by the way you live and speak? Seek to honor and glory Christ in all you do and you willl be blessed.