Today’s Scrip-Bit 19 September 2016 Galatians 5:16.

19 Sep 2016 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Galatians 5:16.    This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

‘Monday, oh Monday! Oh how do I LOVE thee? Let me count the ways…’ (smile) 

Ah friends, so many of us dislike Monday, and it’s such a wonderful day… And I hear all the steupsing and complaining of those who disagree with my praise of Monday. That’s because we haven’t handled the weekend right, or we just blooming lazy and don’t want to go to work, but yet still expect to enjoy all the perks of working. 

Anyway, the long and short of the story is if you expect to eat, then you must work, as per Bruh Paul to the Thessalonians. (2 Thess.3:10) Too many of us nowadays, including supposed Christians, feel entitled, are expecting hand outs and believe that the world owes them a living. 

But the truth is my brethren, the world owes us nothing whatsoever! We owe the world, to try and make it a better place than how we found it. How did John Kennedy, the U.S President put it? ‘Consider not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.’ And that’s how it ought to be! 

Enough palaver though, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and get ourselves together to go out and make the world a better place. 

All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. 

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. 

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. 

Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ 

That wasn’t bad at all my people, somewhat raspy, but it put a smile on the face of our choirmaster Jesus. And that’s the important thing; keeping Jesus happy with our earthly doings. And the very best way to do that is by being obedient to our Bit. ‘This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.’ 

Now yesterday we looked at what basically constituted walking in the flesh, today we’ll check out what it means by walking in the Spirit. Listen to Bruh Paul expatiate to the Galatians. (smile)  

‘But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), Meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law.’ (Gal.5:22-23) 

Yes friends, those are the attributes that a Christian is supposed to show when walking in the Spirit. And the scholars give us a lengthy explanation, which I feel compelled to share, since it will help our understanding of the situation. 

‘5:22. The word fruit is significant for three reasons. (1) It means the result, product, outcome or effect produced by the Spirit in the believer’s life. (2) Unlike “the gifts of the Spirit” (plural), only some of which are given to a Christian, each believer is to have all nine virtues composing “the fruit of the Spirit” (singular). (3) As fruit on a tree takes time to grow and mature, so the Spirit does not cultivate these virtues in the believer’s life overnight. 

LOVE is the willing, sacrificial giving of oneself for the benefit of another without thought of return. Joy is the gladness of heart. Peace is tranquility of mind, freeing one from worry and fear. Long-suffering is patience with others, the opposite of a short temper, a disposition quietly bearing injury. Gentleness is kindness. Goodness is generosity. Faith is dependability.’  

‘5:23. Meekness is gentleness, that is courtesy and consideration in one’s relations with others. Temperance is self-control, that is, the ability to harness and control one’s passions and lusts.’  

There we have it my people, a breakdown of the nine virtues that are associated with the fruit of the Spirit. Yuh see, a lot is expected of us Christians, because our Lord and Saviour, our indisputable Leader, Jesus Christ, expects excellence from His followers, not some wishy-washy, leggo-beast, compromising, sitting on the fence behaviour. 

And we all know it’s not easy to come up higher in this evil world, but it doesn’t happen overnight. As the scholars remind us these virtues take time to grow and mature, as the Holy Spirit that dwells within us nurtures them. 

So please, let’s not beat up ourselves if we are falling down in any virtue(s), because that does not help the situation. When we find we’re not measuring up to our true potential, let’s turn to God in prayer and ask Him for help in whatever area we’re lacking in. 

You know He’ll never refuse us anything that makes us more like His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ. So let’s sincerely and faithfully work at those virtues as we go out and face the enemy today and everyday of our earthly lives. It’s oh so necessary, if we are to spread the gospel to the whole world and fulfill Jesus’ LOVE Revolution. Much LOVE!

…Christians ought to be fertile ground…so that the Holy Spirit can grow good fruit within them…

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 May 2012 Galatians 5:22-23

02 May 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Galatians 5:22-23.     But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Oh Friends, tomorrow has become today, and wonder of wonders, we’re still alive! Wow! Through the tender mercies of our God we’ve been allowed to witness another brilliant sunrise on this beautiful planet Earth! And all God’s people declared a grateful and enthusiastic: ‘Thank you Lord!’ And what are we going to do with that wonderful blessing eh Friends? How are we going to show the Lord that we’re truly thankful for His undying generosity? By first talking about our Bit in some detail, then going out and faithfully living it. That’s the only thing that will truly please the Father. Here goes: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), Meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law.’ Everlasting words of truth and wisdom, my people! Now let’s get some groundings from the scholars: ‘The word fruit is significant for three reasons. (1) It means the result, product, outcome, or effect produced by the Spirit in the believer’s life. (2) Unlike “the gifts of the Spirit” (plural), only some of which are given to a Christian, each believer is to have all nine virtues composing “the fruit of the Spirit” (singular). (3) As fruit on a tree takes time to grow and mature, so the Spirit does not cultivate these virtues in the believer’s life overnight.’ There are two things to realize here Friends, the difference between ‘the gifts of the Spirit’ which are given to us individually by the Lord according to His plan for our lives, like prophecy, ministry, exhortation, philanthropy, etc. (Rom.12:4-8) Then there’s the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ which is a singular thing, with nine different fruits or virtues, that must be produced by us, must come from within us, through our Christ-like efforts.  And we need all nine items growing well within us to truthfully bear the ‘fruit of the Spirit.’ And the second important aspect is, as the scholars point out, this fruit of the Spirit doesn’t mature overnight. It’s often a long, arduous process, and unless we understand that, we’re liable to rush off in our enthusiasm trying to produce spiritual fruit as quickly as possible, only to find it doesn’t work that way. Then we’ll probably get discouraged and lose faith. So please realize Friends, that we’ll be learning, maturing, improving every day, right up until we go to be with Jesus. It’s a process, like the aging of fine wine, and it also takes a lot of fortitude and faith to accomplish without dropping out of the race. Hear how Jesus describes the process: ‘I Am the true (genuine) vine, and my Father is the husbandman (vinedresser). Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth (prunes) it, that it may bring forth more fruit….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.’ (John 15:1-2, 5) So my people, you can see it’s not a short or easy process. Just like the grape vine, we need pruning and purging every so often, that we can be renewed, rejuvenated and produce more and better quality fruit. And here we’ll turn to the scholars once again to get some info on the individual fruit of the Spirit. ‘LOVE is the willing, sacrificial giving of oneself for the benefit of another without thought of return. Joy is gladness of heart. Peace is tranquility of mind, freeing one from worry and fear. Long-suffering is patience with others, the opposite of a short temper, a disposition quietly bearing injury. Gentleness is kindness. Goodness is generosity. Faith here is dependability. Meekness is gentleness, that is, courtesy and consideration in one’s relations with others. Temperance is self-control, that is, the ability to harness and control one’s passions and lusts.’ Yuh think it easy Friends? Not at all! Bearing the fruit of the Spirit is an involved, complicated, lifetime battle. But the good news is that with the Holy Spirit living and working in us we can, will and shall produce all nine aspects in our lives, because we’re true believers living each day in, with and for Jesus. We don’t want to let Him down or disappoint Him, so we’ve got to up the ante in our Christian walk, so that all those Christ-like features will shine out from us and make others want to know Jesus too. That’s the whole idea behind it my brethren, for people will only come to Jesus when they see some useful and beautiful stuff coming out of His followers. Otherwise, why bother? Remember, we’re Jesus’ representatives, ambassadors here on earth, and as we go, so will His kingdom. It’s just like any earthly ambassador; you have a certain reputation and standard to uphold, so that your country doesn’t get a bad reputation. And we surely don’t want to give Jesus a bad name now, do we? And all Jesus’ people gave a mighty shout: ‘Of course not! Well then Friends, let’s take what ever ‘gift of the Spirit’ with which we’ve been endowed, and go out into the evil, unfriendly world and show them that Jesus’ people are strong and steadfast and can bear the ‘fruit of the Spirit,’ as expected of them, in fact have it flourish, become exceedingly abundant. Let’s put that plan into action today please my people! Especially since it’s not against the law, as Bruh Paul told Timothy: ‘But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners…’ (1Tim.1:8-9) So let’s also seek to be righteous, as we ought, my fellow brethren in Christ. Much LOVE!…when given gifts…believers must use them to bear good fruit…to further Christ’s kingdom…that’s our bounden duty…