Messages from Above devotional 2012

Week 13 - Fruit of the Spirit

Day 1 

What fruit?

'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.' Galations 5:22,23

How can it be that 9 different fruit can be combined to make one fruit of the Spirit, I always thought it strange that it not be plural fruits that are of the Spirit. It was only as I got older and started exploring the topics deeper that I started to gain an appreciation for the fruit (singular ) of the Spirit. 

I think of it like a fruit salad, there are many different fruits but only one fruit salad, in order to have the best fruit salad all ingredients must be used. If some are missing it's still a fruit salad but it's not the same as the high standard set out before. It's the same with the fruits discussed in Galations chapter 5 some people have some of the fruits, but it's only when you have all that you may have the fruit of the Spirit. The fact that the fruits are of the Spirit and not for the Spirit suggests that for those wishing to have these characteristics then it cannot be done of yourself, only the Holy Spirit can bring about these changes in one's heart.

This week he importance of each fruit will be discussed and how each one can be obtained.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 2

Love is the foundation

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. Luke 10:27

The self-denying, self-sacrificing, Christ-like love which is the foundation of all other graces.

Love the first fruit, it's where the Christian walk begins. John 3:16,17 illustrates how deep this love is because God loved the world that he was able to send His only Son to die for us that we can live eternally, his Son didn't come to condemn us but that everyone who accepts his sacrifice can be saved.

Timothy loved raving, infact it was his favourite past time, whenever he had a free evening he would go out and get drunk. Timothy also had one other major flaw, after he would get drunk he would get into his car and speed around in his sports car. 

John was an only child, he loved football and would play with with his friends regularly, he was due to play at university and go on to do great things. One night as John was walking home he was hit by a car at very high speeds and he died on the spot. The driver continued and was caught by police a week later. 

It turned out the driver was Timothy, as a result of his dangerous driving he was sentenced to some time in jail. Throughout his time in jail John's parents went to visit Timothy regularly, they took him gifts and spent time talking to him. When asked how they could take so much time to show love and affection to the young man who killed their son they replied that they had lost a son but gained another Timothy needed direction and people to confide in. Although he had taken a life he also had an opportunity to change his own life for the better with the help of John's parents.

1 Corinthians talks about humble love, that without love we are nothing. At the end of the day if God is Love, then we need the unconditional which will enable us to love God with all our heart,soul, strength and mind and love our neighbours like ourselves

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 3

Joy and Peace

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near". Phillipians 4:4,5