AWAKE, ARISE, AND TRIUMPH
Friday – December 2, 2022, Kislev 8, 5783
FRIDAY NUGGETS
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – PART THREE
Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Greetings dear and precious saints of God, sons and daughters of the Father, joint-heirs, co-laborers with and in the Son, taught and helped (empowered) by God the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 3:9 (AMP)
9 For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; you are God’s garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, [you are] God’s building.
Welcome back to the Friday teachings generally titled “Friday Nuggets”. Wow, 11 of the 12 months of this year are spent, Thanksgiving is in the rear view mirror with Christmas and the New Year looming ahead. Let me as again, did we spend the time we were given, our most precious asset, wisely? As the Bible says, did we redeem the time. Before I move on please take a moment and share this teaching as widely as possible by every means available to widen our reach with the gospel. Thank you so much for sharing.
Today I will be continuing our study of the fruit of the spirit, the fruit of our spirit. First, some brief review and then I will move forward. Of course, whatever fruit is produced or more accurately whatever fruit our spirit has the potential to produce originated with and is the same as that of God. Consider the following.
Genesis 2:7 (KJV)
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Here we see God fashioning our physical body, breathing life (our spirit man) and our soul into that body. Our spirit man is where the fruit of the spirit are located, it is the part of us that communicates with God. The soul is where our mind, emotions, will, intellect are located. So, you see that we are three part being from the beginning, the immaterial or spiritual parts (spirit and soul) coming from God, and the physical or material part coming from the earth. Notice that both the soul and the spirit came from God. The soul (mind, will, emotions, intellect) is not the same as the physical brain in the physical body. Since the soul is from God what is its capacity? That is a different study for a different time, just stirring up your thoughts. In this study we are focusing on the nine fruit of our spirit which are from God and have the same potential as God’s Spirit. Before launching into the individual fruit of our spirit let’s take a little further look into the context of our primary text. You will recall from last week that the Apostle Paul is writing to Christians, first at Galatia and now to us.
Galatians 5:17-18 (KJV)
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
As we examine this, the Lord is speaking to us, to Christians. It would seem that we are being told that our flesh is at war with the Holy Spirit and certainly that is true but more importantly our flesh is at war with our born-again spirit and our renewed mind. Our flesh is what the body wants and the unrenewed mind. The quicker and more thoroughly we renew our mind to the thoughts and words of God the less intense this battle will be. Not is discourage any of us, this will continue on some level until we get a new body. Again, where is our focus, how do we answer the lusts of the flesh, with the Word of God, or more attention? The answer can be life or death. Before concluding for today glance back to verse eighteen above. If we are not under the law, are we under something else or perhaps we could say submitted to something else primarily? Does the leading, the help, the empowerments of the Holy Spirit enable us to keep the law? Let’s again look back a couple of verses and meditate.
Galatians 5:13-14 (KJV)
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The word “love” in our text is the Greek word agape which is the God kind of love, the love found in our spirit man, identical to the love of God, who is love. So, because we are made in the image and likeness of God, we also are to be love. Until our spirit man is resurrected at the new birth, we are unable to express this level of love. With the new birth we can start to express agape (God level love) as we are taught of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. The people of the Old Covenant were not able to keep the law, we dear ones are not helpless to our flesh but well able to love as God loves and so we keep all of the law.
Lord willing, I will move forward next Friday in our study of the fruit of our spirit.
2 Chronicles 20:20 b (KJV)
20 … Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Receive the blessing in Jesus’ name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (MSG)
24 GOD bless you and keep you,
25 GOD smile on you and gift you,
26 GOD look you full in the face and make you prosper.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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