Walk In His Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

Galatians 5:22-23

A quick and easy way to tell a child of God isn’t through the things that come from people’s mouths; it is not through the praise they offer up in worship service, but the kind of fruit that they bare in their lives… The fruit which we produce is a direct reflection of the seed which lives within and this fruit can not be altered or changed from its original state… This is why Paul states the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit… These characteristics cannot be found in fruit that is not produced within the Spirit of God… For example, the bible teaches us that God is love; therefore, being a child of God one must have fruit of love in their lives which not only takes root in them but also produces offspring of love to enable them to extend a hand to their adversary or forgive one who has wronged them… You cannot straddle the fence with a mixed bag of fruit and call yourself a child of the most high… This is one exact reason why we find a passage in the gospel of Matthew which speaks to recognizing people by the fruit that they bare… “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (Matthew 7:16)” This message is imperative for us today because as a child of God we are not known by what we claim but the fruit that we bare… Paul writes to the church of Galatia reminding them of the fruit that the Spirit indeed does bare; today let us read these verses and take a(n) inventory of our lives to see if we are baring these fruits, if we aren’t then it is time that we make sure that we are walking in the right spirit… As a child of God we are to be filled with His spirit and this is displayed in our daily actions in various forums… How we treat one another displays the spirit we walk in, how much time we devote to God displays the spirit that we walk in and how we deal with trials and tribulations display the spirit that we are walking in… If you treat your fellow man unkind, never spend time with the Lord and throw your hands up whenever a storm comes your way it is time for you to check the true direction that your life is headed… This fruit doesn’t correlate to Sunday or Sabbath Day worship, this fruit is produced 7 days a week 24 hours a day… We all know the death that Jesus offered on the cross, but we often time forget about the spirit He displayed in the moments leading up to the cross and even the time spent upon the cross… The bible says that while being mocked, spit upon and beaten Jesus never said a mumbling word; the bible says that on the cross Jesus prayed for forgiveness for His adversaries and that He extended salvation to a thief… Remember that Jesus told us that we would do greater things than Him and that is a pretty high bench mark for us to cross… In order to do greater things, we must first acknowledge what was done and strive to be the best that God can and has made us to be. This starts by first, walking in the right Spirit; secondly, we must produce fruit that carries these features and third impart them into every phase of our life and every person we come in contact with… Jesus drew large crowds not only because of the works He performed, but because of the Spirit in which He walked… People saw that there was something different about Him; they could feel that this man was no ordinary man and we should resemble these same things in our walk on this earth… People showed know that there is something different about you, you have something else going on in your life and the fruit is a great source for people to see the uniqueness you have through Christ… As a child of God the characteristics that we are to have are laid out in the verses above… We are to be full of love, this means that we look beyond faults, prayer for one another and seek to encourage one another… We are to be full of joy, this means that we must know that trials will come but have faith knowing that our victory is secure and trouble won’t last always… The joy we are to display shall never end nor should it be removed from our lips or hearts… We are to extend peace, everyday we hear of violence on the news, domestic arguments and various displays of anger, the bible says in Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God…” Paul goes on to speak to the true identity of God’s children when he says that the fruit of the spirit is “longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…” We have to be slow to anger; we must lift up our worse foe and display goodness all the days of our lives… Paul says that “…against such there is no law…” Nobody can deter you when you walk in the spirit, people may try to oppose you but they will fail, people may try to trip you up but they will become stepping stones… You will walk in the love and admiration of God and your fruit will be a beacon light to a dark and confused world… Walk in the spirit…

BE BLESSED!!!