Month: December 2019

We know from Scripture that God wants to change every believer so that they are more and more like Jesus over time. God wants us to emulate Jesus, the perfect and sinless Man. We know that God Himself will bring about this change in us through the indwelt Holy Spirit.  God will pour our His divine fruits, His nature, who He really is, directly into our heart, soul, mind, spirit, and personality. The nine fruits of the Holy Spirit bear repeating. They are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  However, God will not ram His attributes down our throats. We must make the free will choice to let God change us. Some people think they can just sit back and let God do His thing without them having to do anything but they’re wrong.

The sanctification process is and always will be a two way street between God and us. Once we know the what, the why and the how of this process we can do our part by starting to walk and operate in the spirit by our thoughts, words and actions.  We have to keep these divine attributes of God at the forefront of our minds and make a conscious effort to apply them in our lives. Our daily prayers to God should be about implementing God’s divine fruit in our lives with the help of the Holy Spirit.  God will be faithful to do His part because it’s who He is. That is comforting to know. The Holy Spirit will work with you and through you as much as you ask for and can handle. But God will pull back if you don’t do your part.

The sanctification process is slow and painful at times so just keep moving forward with determination and constant prayer. Eventually God’s attributes will shine forth from the inside of you and God will notice. People will notice and be drawn to you for your witness of Christ.  Remember that this sanctification process is the ultimate, highest aim and goal with God for our lives. Scripture says the Holy Spirit is with us to be our counselor and helper and God is referring to sanctification. process.

The eighth fruit of the Holy Spirit is gentleness. Jesus Christ personified this attribute when He walked the earth. If you study the life of Jesus you can see how He handled people with gentleness to get a better result. People respond better to gentleness than to any other fruit of the Spirit. Pray that the Holy Spirit will pour His gentleness into your spirit so you will be a blessing to others.

Ps 18:35 & 2 Sam 22:36 – You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.

2 Cor 10:1 – Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ – who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.

The ninth and last fruit of the Holy Spirit is self-control. Our sin nature constantly battles with our spirit for control in a major tug of war. It takes great self-control to tame the lusts of the flesh in this fallen world. It takes self-control to walk in the spirit. God has this divine attribute in spades. We need to pray to God for an outpouring of this fruit into our minds.  The  sanctification process with the Lord uses these nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Again, these divine attributes of God are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Pray that God will fill you up with His good fruit in proportion to your need.  The fruit of self-control is very important. Just like love is a key fruit, so is self-control. It will be hard to overcome bad habits and handle difficult situations without it. Without self-control it’ll be hard for you to make much of an impact for the kingdom of God.

The seventh fruit of the Holy Spirit is faithfulness. This fruit is loyalty, truthfulness, integrity and justice; always doing what is right. We know God holds this attribute in high esteem by the number of time it is declared in the Bible. God cannot lie or break a covenant promise because of His faithfulness.  God cannot fail to fulfill any prophecy in His Word because of His faithfulness. God cannot fail to save us unto salvation and take us to heaven with Him because of His faithfulness.  God’s actions are always fair and His decisions are always just. Whatever promises God makes He can and will do it for His glory!  In our relationship with God He expects faithfulness in return. In all our dealings with God we must strive to be honest, true, loyal, dependable, dedicated, steadfast and obedient. Pray that we be worthy of God’s trust. Ask God to pour out His faithfulness into our spirits in large measure. Nothing pleases God more than our faithfulness and God is watching.

Ps 36:5 – Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Ps 89:1 – I will sing the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

Ps 89:2 – For I have said, “Mercy shall built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens”.

Ps 89:5 – And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.

Ps 89:8 – O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness surrounds You.

Ps 119:90 – Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.

Isa 11:5 – Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.

Isa 25:1 – O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You. I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithful and true.

The sixth fruit of the Holy Spirit is goodness. What draws people to put their faith in God is they can see the goodness of God. They understand in their heart that God is true and faithful to His Word. The Holy Spirit communes with the unbeliever’s spirit to confirm the truth of the gospel.  Our spirit knows the Master’s voice when he hears it. When God’s divine attribute of goodness is manifested it’s like a bright light shining through for all to see. All of God’s fruits emanate brightly, but goodness and love shine the brightest.

When the Holy Spirit pours the fruit of goodness into our heart it permeates into our personality. When we witness for Christ our passion and conviction for God is evident, which engenders trust.  I’ve said before it’s impossible to read the Bible through twice without being saved.  One reason is you realize the Bible could not have been written by man.  The other reason is the goodness of God is so evident it jumps off the pages of God’s Word straight into your soul.  Trust in God to be faithful to His Word is absolute.  We are left knowing without a doubt that God dearly loves us.     

Psalm 13:9 – Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!

Psalm 145:9 – The Lord id good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.

Exodus 34:6 – The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.

Jeremiah 31:14 – And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.

The fourth fruit of the Holy Spirit is longsuffering. Nowadays we use the term patience. People have always been impatient and even more so today in our fast-paced world. Every day we have people killed over road rage and for cutting in line at a restaurant.  People get into fistfights and shootings over trivial matters. But God is in no hurry. After all, time is immaterial to God. Ask God to pour His patience into your spirit and emotions for a more restful, peaceful state of mind.

2 Pet 3:9 – The Lord is … longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance..

The fifth fruit of the Holy Spirit is kindness. Kindness is a natural result of God’s love so these two divine attributes go hand in hand. Kindness also results in respect for others. Jesus was the perfect role model for kindness.  If you follow the life of Jesus closely you’ll notice He was always showing love and kindness to the people He dealt with, no matter what the circumstances were. When I think of kindness the golden rule come to mind as the best way to be kind to others.  Next to love, kindness is probably the most mentioned of all the divine attributes of God that are mentioned in the Bible.  Ask the Holy Spirit to pour this fruit of the Spirit into your heart and mind.

Joel 2:13 – So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.

Psalm 31:21 – Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city.

Psalm 117:2 – For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever.

The third fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in the Scriptures is peace. Through the Holy Spirit God pours His divine attribute of peace into your spirit, which translates to a sense of fulfillment, well-being, and overall tranquility of soul. People today are living stressful lives in constant turmoil due to the increased level of violence, terrorism and adversity of every kind.  We need to pray for God’s peace to flow into our mind, soul and emotions. No matter what happens in this world we have the certainty of eternal life in heaven because of our trust in God through Jesus Christ.

Phil 4:7 – And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Rom 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2 Pet 1:2 – Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Rom 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

When Jesus indwells the believer He pours His divine attribute of peace into their hearts and minds, giving them the peace of God which does indeed surpass all understanding. Their souls overflow with the blessed hope that is in them which is eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Increase in the knowledge of God through prayer and studying the Holy Bible every day.

The second of God’s listed attributes is joy. People have lost their joy of life due to health concerns, family issues, financial worries and the overall feeling that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Everyone sees this pessimistic view of the world if they watch cable news.  God’s joy heals the human heart and restores the soul. God’s joy will renew your strength to go on. God’s joy is like a battery charger for your soul. Look, life can beat you down if you let it. Stay in God’s Word so you know what is coming.  Everything you are experiencing God told us beforehand would happen. Trust God and keep you focus on Jesus through prayer. You are in God’s hands and your final victory in Jesus Christ is already assured. We need only persevere in faith until the end.

Rom 8:31 – If God is for us who can be against us?

Rom 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Col 1:11 – We are strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.

Rom 8:27 – And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Phil 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

It’s obvious in Rom 15:13 that God is using the Holy Spirit to fill you  with (or pour) the fruit of joy into your soul (along with peace). Adding God’s joy makes you overflow with hope, by which you are strengthened, as mentioned in Col 1:11, Rom 15:13 and Phil 4:13.

Love is the most important attribute of God that the Holy Spirit imparts to believers as part of God’s sanctification process in our lives. Our ability to love like God is limited due to our fallen nature. As the Christ-like unselfish love of God starts to permeate into our spirit we find ourselves caring more deeply about all the unsaved souls who need a witness about Jesus Christ.  My personal mantra of “one more for Jesus” is proof that the Spirit of God is working in me. As believers we need to focus on imparting love into our mind, soul and emotions because we need this quality to facilitate the growth of all the other fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Bible said it best, God is love.

Rom 8:29 – For all eternity God’s plan was for us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.

Rom 8:26 – The Spirit helps us in our weakness.

Rom 5:5 – And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

John 15:8 – By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

You can see in Rom 5:5, that God is using the Holy Spirit to pour His divine love into our hearts which is awesome indeed!  We cannot bear any other fruit than that which God has given us.  You can see in John 15:8, if we work with the Holy Spirit to grow and develop the fruits God has given us then the Father is glorified.  If we glorify God by our actions we are proven to be disciples of Christ because we have obeyed the Master’s commands.  

 

We all know the Holy Spirit indwells us to help us in our walk with God. What does that mean? I’m a little fuzzy about the process. The Holy Spirit is God and His divine attributes (fruits of the Spirit) He is making available to His children in order for them to grow in Christ.  If we ask God for this blessing He will pour His divine attributes into our soul and spirit so that, over time, we become more and more like Jesus by what is referred to as the process of “sanctification.”  We understand these nine fruits of the Spirit are the tools God uses to sanctify us. However, it’s not automatic. You can’t be passive. I did that for forty years to no avail. You must be proactive and work with the Holy Spirit to develop and use these fruits of the Spirit in your life.  Read and study God’s Word daily. Pray every day for God to imbue you with these nine fruits of His divine nature. It’s mind boggling to imagine the Creator of the universe giving us a piece of Himself but that is what happens.

2 Tim 1:14 – Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Phil 2:13 – It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Rom 11:29 – For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

James 4:2 – You do not have because you do not ask.

Mark 11:24 – Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

In the Bible God often describes man using the analogy of a tree giving off fruit after its kind. A good tree will give off good fruit and a bad tree will give off bad fruit. This applies not only to man but to God Himself. When the Holy Spirit indwells us we are filled with the good fruit of God.  The Father graciously provides access to nine special fruits of the Spirit to those who love Him. These nine holy attributes of God are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Gal 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Psalm 34:8 – Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.

I have often thought the above verse a weird turn of phrase. If you equate the attributes of God as fruit the analogy now makes more sense. God doesn’t explain everything. Some stuff you just need to figure out. God is multi-faceted and we’ll never be able to comprehend the magnitude of God.  However, God has indirectly shared with us, through the Holy Spirit, who He is by His fruit which God’s Word tells us is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  You don’t need to wonder what God is like any more. Each of us produces fruit that mirrors who we are.  We are what we produce and so is God. These fruits of the Holy Spirit give me a sense of who God is and they are a source of comfort.  Throughout the Bible I have noticed all of these attributes of God in action with how He deals with Israel and fallen man. I’m so thankful to God for His tender mercies!