OUT OF PLACE?

January 13, 2019 | lindamowles

Have you ever noticed something that seemed to be “out of place” in the context surrounding the thing or event?

We saw this sign was alongside a road that had a nursing home on the right and a cemetery on the left.

Although the sign was factually correct in that it told the driver that the road did not lead to any other road, it seems to be somewhat “out of place”, or perhaps a better description might be “somewhat macabre”, given the context in which it was placed.

We saw an even better example of something “out of place” when we were watching one of Agatha Christi’s Poirot mysteries on television recently. The many episodes in the Poirot series are elaborately filmed, with mid-1930s furnishings, clothing, automobiles, etc. The characters are incredible and the story lines are detailed. All this to say, the programs are a delight to watch and we really enjoy them.

However, on this particular occasion, one of the characters was assigned the job of tailing a suspect whenever she left her apartment. The suspect came out of the building and got into her car, so our character dutifully started his vehicle. As the suspect sped away, so did our character when the rear of his vehicle was seen bouncing over …

wait for it …

a SPEED BUMP!

A speed bump on a street in the 1930s? I don’t think so. In fact, a quick Google search said that speed bumps were not used in the UK until the 1980s. It quite simply was “out of place” in the episode we were watching.

As Christians, we are called to live a life of holiness, of love and of sweet communion with our Lord.

The church in Ephesus seemed to have many problems and Paul addressed them in his letter, and he points to the importance of living a life that is in keeping with their witness as Christians.

“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”

Ephesians 5:3-4

In short, while certain activities and certain speech may be acceptable among society, such things are “out of place” when said or done by Christians.

Paul says this about the traits that the Christian should exhibit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. “

Galatians 5:22-23

This way of living will never be “out-of-place” as far as the Lord is concerned, however it will certainly be countercultural to those around you and it may appear “out of place” to them!

Jonathan Edwards, the Puritan theologian in the early days of our country, said this about the Christian virtue of love:

A Christian should at all times keep a strong guard against everything that tends to overthrow or corrupt or undermine a spirit of love. That which hinders love to men, will hinder the exercise of love to God… If love is the sum of Christianity, surely those things which overthrow love are exceedingly unbecoming Christians. An envious Christian, a malicious Christian, a cold and hard-hearted Christian, is the greatest absurdity and contradiction. It is as if one should speak of dark brightness, or a false truth!

So, beloved, when I look in the mirror of my life, do I see consistency in the development of my Christian life? I know that I am not where I need to be, but am I closer than I was last year at this time? Are you?

When I look in the mirror of my life, do I see speed bumps where I faltered, do I see times that I harmed my witness by taking actions or saying things that are out-of-place, that are inconsistent with my Christian witness? Do you see such things?

Let us bring our life into conformance with what our Lord desires for us. Let us be attuned to the Holy Spirit as He convicts us of our sin, as He leads us into paths where we are to walk, and as He brings to mind the Scripture that will enable us to do the work that has been planned for us to do, and let us eliminate our “out of place” activities/words/thoughts. In short, let us be transformed into the image of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ through the power of His Spirit.

Father, I pray that I would be attuned to your Spirit so that I would be able to discern when my thoughts, actions, or words would be out-of-place, when they would harm my witness for my Lord, when they would grieve you, Father. I cannot do this on my own, and I seek your strength and power to do these things.

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, No. 25, ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

September 30, 2016September 15, 2016 | lindamowles

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, Series Post No. 25

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – THE CONCLUSION

ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

The concept of the Holy Spirit is not new. The Trinity has been alive and well long before creation! God is, was and always will be. Indeed, the Holy Spirit was present at creation when he “hovered over the waters” and gave form and structure to the universe the Father had created. The Holy Spirit worked not just in the broad creation activity but also within specific people who God prepared, with His Spirit, to do His work throughout the millennia.

We read in Exodus 31:1-5 where God told Moses that He had filled Bezalel with the spirit of God, “in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship to devise cunning works, to work in gold, in silver and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship” for the building of the tabernacle and of the fixtures to be used in the worship of God. Clearly, God prepared His people to properly worship him, even in the wilderness, by providing gifts to certain people to do specific work that He had ordained for them to do.

In the New Testament days the Holy Spirit came down and filled the believers and gave them specific gifts for the same reason He gifted people in the Old Testament days, to do the specific work that God wanted them to do His worship and for His church. The gifts of the Spirit are listed in various places including in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4.

But separate from the gifts of the Spirit are the fruit of the Spirit – the fruit being what grows out of the Spirit’s presence in our life. Fruit is not the result of our own work – we cannot create the fruit and we cannot earn the fruit: we have it because the Spirit lives within us and we can only give the fruit life as it grows through the Spirit’s power.

You will recall that the primary characteristic of the various gifts of the Spirit is that they are active and visible. The gifts are not inside the believer or quiet. They are in full sight of others and almost always they are exercised for the benefit of other people. In short, the gifts of the Spirit usually get a lot of press.

Not so with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Generally speaking, the fruit of the Spirit is quiet, internal. There may be actions that come out of the fruit of the Spirit in the believer, and those actions would be observed by others, but the fruit itself is internal to the believer personally. The Holy Spirit’s fruit for each and every Christian is found in Galatians 5:22-23. The following verses note these attributes of our God, and of His Son – attributes, fruit, that we are to grow as we conform to the likeness of Christ:

Love – Matthew 22:37-40

Joy – John 16:33

Peace – Philippians 4:9

Patience – Colossians 3:12

Kindness – Luke 6:35

Goodness – Titus 3:4-5

Faithfulness – Matthew 23:23

Gentleness, Humility, Meekness – Matthew 5:9

Self-Control – 2 Timothy 1:7

Paul concludes this listing of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 with the statement “Against such there is no law.” At first glance, this could be considered a parallelism where Paul is comparing the works of the flesh listed in earlier verses that are clearly against the law with the fruit of the Spirit that is just as clearly lawful. Calvin, in his commentary on Galatians, says:

Some understand these words as meaning simply that the law is not directed against good works. But Paul’s real meaning is deeper and less obvious; namely, that, where the Spirit reigns, the law has no longer any dominion. By molding our hearts to his own righteousness, the Lord delivers us from the severity of the law, so that [we are] not regulated by its covenant, nor our consciences bound by its sentence of condemnation. Yet the law continues to teach and exhort, and thus performs its own office; but our subjection to it is withdrawn by the Spirit of adoption.

Rykers says:

This catalogue of spiritual virtues is not exhaustive. Paul hints at this when he refers to the fruit of the Spirit as “such things” (Gal. 5:23). Some graces that are not on this list, such as hope, for example, or godliness, appear elsewhere in the New Testament. Once again, the point is not so much the specific character traits as it is the entire lifestyle they represent.

The contrast between the special produce of the Spirit and the bitter fruit of the sinful nature could hardly be sharper. The fruit of the Spirit is the very opposite of the works of the flesh. The Spirit brings forth good fruit from a good tree, the product of a whole new spiritual nature in Christ. Further, we do not grow this fruit on our own. This is why it is called the fruit of the Spirit rather than the works of the Spirit. Mr. S. H. Hooke comments:

“A vine does not produce grapes by Act of Parliament; they are the fruit of the vines own life; so the conduct which conforms to the standard of the Kingdom is not produced by any demand, not even God’s, but it is the fruit of that divine nature which God gives as the result of what he has done in and by Christ.” This fruit of the Spirit is the natural product of his gracious inward influences, the spontaneous and inevitable result of his uniting us to Jesus Christ. It will take time to grow, but grow it must, for God will make it grow. What we are to do in the meantime is cultivate this spiritual fruit.

Walk in the Spirit

Although the virtues in Galatians 5 are given by God through the Spirit, we cannot use the metaphor of fruit in a way that would stress only the “given” quality of the virtues and thus imply an ethical passivity on the Christian’s part. Indeed, combined with the givenness of these virtues by God is the believer’s active involvement in expressing them in his or her own lifestyle – or as Paul puts it pointedly a couple verses later: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25

The point of the phrase “let us keep in step with the Spirit” puts the emphasis on the obligation of Christian living as being neither based on legal prescriptions nor being based on the dictates of the flesh but to the Spirit, who directs and enables and who is fully sufficient both for bringing to birth a believer’s new life “in Christ” and for effecting a truly Christian lifestyle.

The purpose of this study is to remind us that we are far more in need of growth in the fruit of the Spirit than we thought. We tend to look at our natural strengths as a sign that we are Christ-like. Though God makes the world a very good place because he grants so many people natural strengths, they are not the same as the fruit of the Spirit. Indeed, we have seen that most of the fruit of the Spirit mandates actions that are contrary to our earthly inclinations.

This is true because the fruit of the Spirit is intended to transform us into the likeness of Jesus Christ. It is His nature that we are to develop while here on earth and it is His nature that will be a witness of His power to the world around us.

So, even though there will be no more weekly studies in this series, from this day forward you can walk in the Spirit.

Allow the characteristics of our Lord to become evident in your life so that we truly are being transformed into the image of our Savior.
- Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Let the Spirit enliven and magnify these qualities in your life as you, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Walk in the Spirit.

PRAYER [a portion of a Puritan’s prayer]: Father, Lord of the Universe and Creator of all things, we come before you at the conclusion of this study on the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Lord, the Holy Spirit was given to increase your graces in our heart. We cannot preserve or improve on them unless the Holy Spirit works continually in us. May the Holy Spirit confirm our trust in you and your promised help and let us walk humbly in reliance on the Holy Spirit as we live our lives before you. We ask this in your beloved name, Lord Jesus, Amen.

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – KINDNESS, part one

July 23, 2016 | lindamowles

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, Series Post No. 15

KINDNESS – A CONSTANT STATE OF READINESS TO HELP

PART ONE

This week we are looking at the fruit of the Spirit called Kindness.

There is some confusion about the terms gentleness, kindness and meekness as they appear in various translations of Galatians 5:22-23. In the King James Version we read:

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

The English Standard Version translates these verses as follows:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Note the words that are underlined … they are the words that cause some confusion due to varying translations. Here, we are looking at Kindness – translated Gentleness in the King James. This will be a bit different than the discussion of “gentleness” we come to later in the English standard version since that in King James is translated as Meekness. These words are all variations on a theme so don’t expect them to be blue verses red, but they have various nuances that are important for us to incorporate into our lives. Remember:

If it was important enough for the Scripture writer to use different words through the leading of the Holy Spirit, it is important enough for us to understand and to put those nuanced words into effect in our life.

As we all know, kindness is not something that is spoken of only in Scripture … it is a topic, like the other fruit of the Spirit we have studied, that is copied in the world today, although as with the other fruit of the Spirit, the world’s version is a significantly deteriorated version of what the Holy Spirit produces.

Mark Twain said:

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”

The English writer Samuel Johnson said:

“Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.”

Then of course there is the profound negative that “No act of kindness goes unpunished!” Clearly, kindness is not looked upon favorably by everyone. If we are honest, even the pagan sees that kindness carries with it a cost which they may not be willing to pay. It may not be a cost in money, but it may cost time or effort, it may be inconvenient or it may interfere with long-held plans.

What does Scripture say?

However, kindness, according to the Holy Spirit, is not an inconvenience to be avoided but a characteristic to be embraced – it is a way of life to be adopted so that it flows naturally from you under all conditions, at all times. After all, remember that God is our example of loving kindness as He lavishly showers us with kindness through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In Scripture we see that kindness follows patience, just as patience follows peace, and it follows joy and all the fruit is based on love. We might be nice and we might do good things, but the unregenerate man will not be kind in the way that the Holy Spirit would direct because the unregenerate person does not have love for Jesus Christ.

Dr. R. C. Sproul says

“Kindness is the manifestation of patience and it is born of the fact that we ourselves are objects of God’s kindness.”

As with the other fruit of the Spirit, we are to imitate Christ and extend the fruit of kindness irrespective of whether the individual receiving it appreciates our efforts or even knows that we have done anything for him. It is because of what Jesus did for us, not what the individual has done or could do for us, that we are kind.

The Greek word for kindness is Chrestotes. It is the divine kindness out of which God acts toward men. According to James Montgomery Boice, this kindness is what the Old Testament is referring to when it says “God is good” as it so frequently does. (Boice, Commentary on Galatians, 5:22-26)

We can afford to be kind even if it makes us vulnerable because underneath it all, we are unshakably secure in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The opposite of the fruit of the Spirit of kindness is envy and an inability to rejoice with another person. The counterfeit of kindness is manipulative good deeds. That is, being kind for what you get out of it, not what you are giving to the other person.

How does this apply to my daily life?

Kindness is not a random act of consideration. Rather, it is a constant state of readiness to help, the extension of God’s grace to the people around us through practical actions of caring.

In fact, it is similar to “goodness” which was a common term among the pagans in that day for complete moral excellence. In the Galatians 5 list of fruit of the Spirit, goodness is sanctified by the Holy Spirit and it indicates a willingness to be generous. (Rykers, Reformed Expository Commentary – Galatians) We will study goodness in the coming weeks.

Suffice it to say, kindness and goodness are similar, but different.

The great love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13:4 says “Love is patient and kind.” This is no accident. Last week we thought about longsuffering/ patience – that is, our remaining steadfast and enduring insults, false statements, physical or emotional injury without revenge or “getting even” no matter how long the injury lasts. It is L O N G suffering.

Kindness is the companion of longsuffering. Longsuffering is our personal response of restraint regarding an injury received – we do not take action against the wrongdoer. Kindness is where we do take action – we are kind toward him or her. We do good to those who hurt us – why? Because that is what Love does!

Next week we will continue to look at kindness and how it is manifested in our lives through the Holy Spirit’s work.

Blessings to you and I pray that you will continue to walk with me as we learn about the fruit of the Holy Spirit and as we mature in our transformation into Christian believers who speak and act as Jesus did and who share in the passions that Jesus had for the lost sheep and for the worship of His Father, the Almighty God.

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, No. 12 – PEACE part three.

July 1, 2016July 1, 2016 | lindamowles

PEACE – TRANQUILITY OF ORDER

PART THREE

We have been talking about the peace that the believer has in Jesus Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Now, I am going to ask a question –

Try to suppose for a moment that your religion has been withdrawn from you. In other words, try to conceive yourself without your faith, though in every other way you, and your circumstances, are unchanged.

Now – tell me,

Would you be appreciably the poorer?
Would anyone detect that something was different or that some secret thing had passed away?

What does Scripture say?

Rev. George Morrison, a pastor in London in the late 1800s asked these questions when he was preaching on Romans 15:13 where Paul says

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Rev. Morrison continued to ask his congregation: “Do we go up and down the world with a glad peace because we believe in God through Jesus Christ? It is to that that we are called, whatever our temperament or our lot.”

He recognized that the fruit of the Spirit is ours, “whatever our temperament or our lot” might be. In other words, external circumstances do not control the existence of the fruit of the Spirit. We HAVE the Holy Spirit within us and He desires to grow the fruit in our hearts.

So, if we are to go up and down the world with a glad peace because we believe in God through Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, what does it look like?

It is not a peace I described at the beginning of this series that is based on our own efforts at trying to be peaceful.

In the The New Testament and Wycliffe Bible Commentary, we find the following regarding John 14:27:

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Peace. A frequent word in connection with farewells. But this is a legacy rather than merely a conventional touch. … My peace. A distinctive brand of peace, different from that of the world, which would be panic-stricken at such an hour as this, with death so near. The gift of his peace would make his followers unafraid, as he was. (cf. 16:33).

Here, the peace that is described in Scripture comes, as did joy, from the wellspring of Love for Jesus Christ and the Father. Jonathan Edwards called Love the Sum of all Christianity. If we do not have Love, we cannot have spiritual joy; and, we cannot have spiritual peace if we do not have joy. They flow from each other and all stem from Love.

How does this apply to my daily life?

Dr. R. C. Sproul says that peace as a fruit of the Spirit means that we have a new capacity to live at peace with others and ourselves. I can have this peace with myself and with others because, as the definition of peace explains, I rest in the wisdom and sovereignty of God more than in my own.

What does it look like? Perhaps the language of Paul is instructive when he says in Ephesians 4:1-3 that we should walk in a “manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called … eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

We are unified with each other in the BOND OF PEACE. This unity is referenced again in Colossians 3:15:

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

In all honesty and fairness, I have to throw in a caveat here: We must recognize that living in peace with others is the goal, but it is not always possible. The writer of Hebrews recognized this and said:

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:14

In Romans 12:18 we read:

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Should we seek peace with others at all costs? No. The Scripture says that we should be peaceable as far as it depends on us. If there is something we can do to accomplish peace, we should do it.

But we must realize that just like it takes 2 to tango, it takes 2 to be at peace with each other. We cannot force someone else to be at peace with us … that is their issue. Just like forgiveness, we must forgive others … what they do with it is their business.

How should we guide our life to encourage the growth of the fruit of the Spirit of peace, I suggest Philippians 4:6-9 would be a great place to start:

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Meditate on these verses as you listen to Integrity Music’s Scripture Memory Song entitled “Mediate on These Things.”

Amen, and amen.

My prayer is that you will allow the Holy Spirit to come into your life and touch your heart with His peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Don’t fret – your life in Christ is protected by the best guard you could ask for, the very Spirit of the Holy God. That is peace!

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, Post 10, PEACE – TRANQUILITY OF ORDER

June 17, 2016 | lindamowles

PEACE – TRANQUILITY OF ORDER

PART ONE

For the most part, the world thinks of peace in negative terms such as the absence of hostility, or perhaps the absence of tension. As with the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, the Biblical view of the term is quite different.

Augustine of Hippo defined peace as “The tranquility of order.” In the context of this definition, he said there are three applications of this type of peace:

Peace with God – or the spiritual order

Peace on earth – or the relational order

Peace of God — or the psychological order.

What does Scripture say?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:21-22.

Martin Luther said that the word “peace” in Galatians 5 means that the Christian is at peace with both God and man, Luther going further into how we should conduct ourselves, saying:

Christians are to be peaceful and quiet. Not argumentative, not hateful, but thoughtful and patient.

In his book, The Holiness of God, Dr. R. C. Sproul states:

For the Christian, the holy war is over: the peace has been established. Access to the Father is ours. But we still must tremble before our God. He is still holy. Our trembling is the tremor of awe and veneration, not the trembling of the coward or the pagan frightened by the rustling of a leaf. Luther explained it this way: “We are to fear God not with a servile fear like that of a prisoner before his tormentor but as children who do not wish to displease their beloved Father.” We come to Him in confidence; we come to Him in boldness; we have access. We have a holy peace.

Both the Greek and the Hebrew word for peace have the same meaning — confidence and rest in the wisdom and sovereignty of God more than in your own. The opposite of peace is anxiety and worry. The world’s counterfeit of true peace is indifference, or perhaps apathy, having an “I don’t care” attitude.

According to Strong’s Lexicon, there are a number of words in Hebrew that refer to peace and its various definitions. The Hebrew word with which we are most familiar is, in English, shalom.

Its transliteration is shalowm and it is pronounced shä·lōm’.

This Hebrew word means:

completeness, soundness, welfare, peace
1. completeness (in number)
2. safety, soundness (in body)
3. welfare, health, prosperity
4. peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment
5. peace, friendship
Shalom embodies the concept of completeness, wholeness, harmony and fulfillment. It is unimpaired relationship with God and man and fulfillment in one’s undertakings. The source of Shalom peace is God.

Looking at its use in the Old Testament:

It referred to a condition of freedom from disturbance, whether outwardly, as of a nation from war or enemies, or inwardly, within the soul. To a people harassed by foes, peace was the primary blessing. In Psalm 122:7, shalom is translated “security” where it is said:

“Peace be within your walls and security within your towers.”

Shalom was the common friendly greeting, used in asking after the health of anyone; also in farewells. Genesis 29:6 “He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well!” This phrase literally meaning “Is there peace to him?” This is again exampled in Judges 6:23 where Scripture says:

“But the Lord said to him, Peace be to you. Do not fear, you shall not die.”

Peace from enemies, thus implying prosperity, was the great desire of the nation and was the gift of God if the people walked in His ways. Aaron’s blessing to the people of Israel was dictated by the Lord and it is found in Numbers 6:24-26. We frequently hear it in benediction at the end of our worship:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

In Leviticus 26:6, God makes promises to the people of Israel for peace if they follow his laws:

“I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid.”

In Isaiah 26:3-4 we have the promise:

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”

This verse actually says in the Hebrew: “you keep him in peace peace
whose mind is stayed on you”. Also note the reason for this peace, in verse 4 we read the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Talk about a good foundation for peace!

How does this apply to my daily life?

We certainly are not done considering peace and what it means as a part of the fruit of the Spirit that indwells the believer. But for now, I would ask that you read the Bible references above in your own Bible, translations and paraphrases.

Consider what the Old Testament people desired for peace and what God says will come if they obey His commands.

Consider what you desire for peace and how it might reveal itself in your life through the Holy Spirit.

Consider having peace peace … perfect peace. Let this thought comfort you during this week. Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to do this, even before we go into consideration of peace in the New Testament.

Here, Damaris sings the song “I Sing Peace” taken from her album The Heart of God. Enjoy listening to her as you consider having perfect peace this week.

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, No. 8 – JOY, Part Two

June 3, 2016 | lindamowles

JOY – EFFERVESCENCE EVEN IN CHAOS

PART TWO

In the last post we began thinking about Biblical Joy. In so doing, we noted that Joy is the first fruit, not gift, of the Spirit. This means that Joy is not bestowed on one person as a gift but someone else does not have that gift so they don’t have Joy. Rather, the Christian has Joy in her heart because she has the Holy Spirit in her heart — it is there, whether or not she feels it at this moment!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23.

What does Scripture say?

In the New Testament church, we can see evidence of the Joy in the Lord by the rapid expansion of the church. [After all, who wants to join a bunch of sourpusses?]

These Christians had something that no one else had to offer … not just eternal life after death, but a way of living that gave them Joy even in the dreary, persecution filled existence that the people experienced in their day-to-day lives.

Picture Paul and Silas – they are in prison after freeing a slave girl from a demonic spirit. In Acts 16 we have the full story. The relevant part for this discussion comes after they have been severely beaten, put into the inner cell, and fastened by their feet in the stocks.

I don’t know about you, but I would be particularly happy in this situation. But, listen to what Scripture says Paul and Silas were doing:

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was such a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

Acts 16:25-28.

The jailer brought them out of jail and that very night, the jailer and his whole family believed on the Lord Jesus and received eternal life. Paul and Silas understood that their physical comfort was irrelevant — if they could win one person, whether prisoner or jailer, to Jesus, the pain of prison was worth it. The joy they had was from a supernatural source – it certainly was not just positive thinking!

In 1 Peter 1:3-9, Peter tells the people that they can rejoice in salvation through Jesus Christ even though they are suffering now, knowing that their suffering is proving their faith which is more precious than gold and it would all be to the praise and glory of Christ.

Both secular and Biblical History tell us that the 1^st century was no picnic for Christian believers.

Charles Spurgeon, a minister of the 19^th century (1834 – 1892) became the pastor of the Park Street Church in London, England and, in 1855, began to publish his sermons weekly. Today, they make up 57 volumes of The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit. In a sermon on the fruit of the Spirit – joy, [contained in volume 27,] Spurgeon references the 1^st century Christians and their experiences in the catacombs.

Turn now to the poor, hunted Christians and read the inscriptions left by them in the catacombs. They are so calm and peaceful that you say instinctively – a joyous people were wont [inclined] to gather here. Those who have been most eminent [prominent] in service and in suffering for Christ’s sake have been of a triumphant spirit, dauntless because supported by an inner joy. Their calm courage made them the wonder of the age.

Spurgeon continues –

I do not know how much Tiberias and Nero used to sing – happy men they certainly were not. I can hardly imagine them singing, except at their drunken orgies, and then in the same tone as tigers growl. But, I do know that Paul and Silas sang praises unto God with their feet in the stocks and the prisoners heard them. I also know that this was the mark of the Christians of the first age, that when they assembled on the Lord’s day it was not to groan but to sing praises to the name of one Christos, whom they worshiped as a God.

How does this apply to my daily life?

How did those 1^st century Christians have such joy even in horrific circumstances? Jesus answered this question when He said:

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33.

The Christian’s Joy is not superficial or fake. It is not a plastic smile. This mandate is not superficial cheerfulness or irrational escapism but our joy is grounded in the cosmic reality that our Savior has overcome the world, sin and death. His victory means that we too have overcome the world – not because of anything that we have done but because He is covering us with His blood stained arms.

Listen to the text of John 16:33 as found in the song entitled “I Have Overcome the World,” sung on Integrity Music’s Scripture Memory Songs album “Overcoming Guilt.”

So, where do you find your Joy?

Look to Jesus Christ. Only through His work alone can you received His Joy through the power of the Holy Spirit.

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, No. 7, JOY, Part One

May 27, 2016 | lindamowles

JOY – EFFERVESCENCE EVEN IN CHAOS

PART ONE

This week we are considering Joy. We know that everyone wants to be happy. In our culture, happiness is talked about and searched for, but seldom is real joy experienced.

The internet dictionary.com defines joy as being “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.” A picture of joy, I believe, is this one of a young boy with his grilled cheese sandwich. Eyes closed, bread in both hands, cherishing the taste in his mouth. He seems to be in little boy bliss!

In an attempt to find happiness, people try all sorts of things, way beyond grilled cheese sandwiches. For example, Indian philosophy has given a 7 prong approach to locating happiness.

Think less, feel more
Frown less, smile more
Talk less, listen more
Judge less, accept more
Watch less, do more
Complain less, appreciate more
Fear less, love more

These things are good and they may help you lead a more productive happy life. Any time that you focus on others and have your eyes off of yourself your life is likely to be happier. But, these actions are based on our own efforts, and any happiness that is achieved is fleeting because it is based on outward circumstances.

This is the fundamental difference between Christians and unregenerate persons around us. Even though we use the same word Joy, the Joy given to the Christian is separate and apart from outward circumstances of this world … it is not the power of positive thinking nor is it based on the prosperity gospel’s promise of vast monetary wealth here and now.

What does Scripture say?

Using the orange analogy that we developed previously, Biblical Joy is a segment of the fruit of the Holy Spirit as found in Galatians 5:22-23.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The Greek word Chara – Joy – refers to a delight in God and His salvation for the sheer beauty and worth of who He is. The world’s counterfeit of this fruit is elation that comes with blessings rather than from thoughts of the One who blesses. Further, because the world’s joy is based on external things, there will be mood swings based on circumstances.

The Holy Spirit’s Joy is not dependent on external circumstances but is deep seeded and is rooted in the heart filled with love for our Lord.

Martin Luther said:

Joy means sweet thoughts of Christ, melodious hymns and psalms, praises and thanksgiving, with which Christians instruct, inspire, and refresh themselves.

Matthew Henry understands Paul’s use of the term “Joy” as part of the fruit of the Spirit as being “a constant delight in God.”

Unlike the writings of other faith systems, Joy is well embedded in Holy Scripture of the Bible. Scriptural Joy is the fruit of a right relation with God because it is based on the Holy Spirit’s presence within us. If we do not have the Holy Spirit, we cannot have Biblical Joy!

Note: The Bible distinguishes scriptural Joy from pleasure – the Greek word for pleasure is the word from which we get our English word hedonism, and it is the philosophy of self-centered pleasure-seeking. Paul referred to false teachers as “lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God.” (2 Timothy 3:4)

The Bible warns that self-indulgent pleasure-seeking does not lead to happiness and fulfillment.

Ecclesiastes 2 records the sad story of one who tried to build his life on pleasure-seeking and was left empty and disillusioned.
1 Timothy 5:6 says that the self-indulgent person is dead even while seeming to be alive.
Titus 3:3 notes that pleasure-seeking often enslaves the person in a vicious cycle of addiction.

In contrast, the God of Scripture knows Joy and He wants His people to know Joy.

Psalms 104:3 speaks of God rejoicing in His creative works.
Isaiah 65:18 speaks of God rejoicing over His redeemed people who will be to Him “a joy.”
Luke 2:10, a focal verse at Christmastime, reminds us of the perfect example of bringing joy from the Lord in the Angel’s pronouncement to the shepherds at Bethlehem.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

How does this apply to my life?

In John 15:9-12, Jesus told us to keep His commands and to abide in His love, further stating that He told us this so that “my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

The answer to the question “Can we have that same joy?” is a resounding YES. We can, and do, have within us the same Joy that Jesus was speaking of. We can confidently say this because we have His Spirit within us and He provides Joy as we listen to Him, as we read the Scripture and as we rely on Him for all things.

Is our joy different from the happiness that is sought so desperately by the world? As you should be aware by now, the answer to this question is an unequivocal YES. Our joy is different because of Who it is based on – our joy is not dependent on circumstances or things. Our joy is based on the Person and work of Jesus Christ, and we experience it through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit.

In speaking of Galatians 5:22, Author Keri Wyatt Kent says:

“This verse is not a to-do list for us to work through, but a description of the transformation that occurs when God’s Spirit begins to work in us.”

This week, pray that the Holy Spirit would continue this transformation by enlarging your love and joy in Christ. Ruminate about keeping the commands of our Lord so that you can abide in His love. Then, take action and do that which the Lord commands. I believe that you will find that your joy will be abundant as you live and serve Him through the power of His Spirit.

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, NO. 6, LOVE, PART THREE.

May 20, 2016 | lindamowles

We are continuing Dr. R.C. Sproul’s identification of the characteristics that should be evident in the Christian’s life and heart when Agape love is present through the Holy Spirit. We began consideration of these characteristics last week by noting that:

Agape love gives us the desire in our hearts to worship God;
Agape love believes and trusts God’s Word; and
Agape love recognizes God’s absolute right to govern us.

What does Scripture say?

Let us now consider several additional characteristics of Agape love.

Agape love enables us to desire justice for others.

David, in Psalms 82:3-4 says:

“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

The prophet Micah says that God has told us what we are to do in Micah 6:8:

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Of course, we know that Jesus was asked “who is my neighbor” in Luke 10:29 and in response, the parable of the Good Samaritan was given, telling us that all persons are our neighbors. Agape love enables us to want, and to work for, justice and mercy for persons we come in contact with, whether physically or through hearing of their difficulties. They are our neighbors and Agape love encourages our participation with them.

Agape love encourages us to be content in any situation.

Paul said that he was content in whatever the circumstance presented in Philippians 4:11-12. Paul exhibited this contentment when he and Silas were in prison and, after being beaten and put in chains, they were praying and singing praises to God, so loudly that the other prisoners heard them. Acts 16.

Paul understood that contentment is possible when we remember that God is sovereign and that He is in control of the events and circumstances that confront us. Therefore, through His sovereignty, we know that He will use the situation for His purposes and for His glory. We often may not know why certain things happen, but we know the One who has ordained and permitted those things for His reasons and for our ultimate benefit. We, therefore, can be content in His provision and grace.

In 1 Peter 1:6 the demand for contentment sounds impossible when Peter says:

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials….”

Rejoicing while suffering — this is evidence of Agape love because only the Holy Spirit can enable us to do so.

Agape love enables us to resist the sin of bitterness.

Paul says in Ephesians 4:31:

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”

The writer of Hebrews 12:15 warns:

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled….”

James 3:14 warns that bitter envy and selfish ambition do not come from heaven but rather are earthly, unspiritual and of the devil. James then says:

“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

James 3:16

Jonathan Edwards describes the response to bitterness in Charity and Its Fruits as follows:

An envious Christian, a malicious Christian, a cold and hard-hearted Christian, is the greatest absurdity and contradiction. It is as if one should speak of dark brightness, or a false truth!

Simply put, bitterness, gossip, resentment … none of this has any place in a heart that is filled with Agape love. Using Christ as our Guide, we see no evidence of this response when He was lied about by false witnesses, rejected and abandoned by His own disciples, accused by the hypocrites in the Synagogue, or when He heard cries for His crucifixion from the very people who within that same week were clamoring for Him to become their leader. Another example of Jesus’ Agape love was His response when He was nailed to the cross and people were “wagging their heads” at Him. Mark 15:29. Rather than bitterness, Jesus’ prayer was

“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!”

Luke 23:54.

There are times that we forget that the Agape love in our heart through the Holy Spirit is simply another way of saying God’s love is within us. The Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, has the same power and strength as the other Persons in the Trinity and it is this Spirit that has the power to enable us to love as only God can love. The Holy Spirit can impart God’s love to us because He is God … and He has provided this same love to all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about the awesomeness of Agape love that is available to us, and then let us commit ourselves to putting that love in practice as we go through our lives, day by day.

How does this apply to my daily life?

Let’s get practical – What can we do to exercise each of these characteristics?

Dr. Sproul suggests using what he calls the Judgment of Charity. The Judgment of Charity is simply the practice of giving others the benefit of the doubt, believing them to have acted in love and not hate, responding in love and not as an enemy. Charity makes it a practice to consider other’s communication in the best light, or the best case scenario, even when that person’s actions or words have wounded us.

Rather than thinking of some negative ulterior motive for why they acted the way they did, the Christian exercising this fruit of the Spirit views the actions of others through the lens of Agape love. In so doing we are following the example of Jesus in our relationship with Him.

How often have we hurt our Savior by failing to honor our commitments, by failing to obey His commands, by failing to serve Him to the utmost of our abilities even when we have promised to do so? Yet, despite knowing our failings, He went to the cross for us, took our shame and punishment, and paid the price of our sin.

The evidence of the fruit of Agape love in our heart is the Spirit’s enabling us to love God and others as Christ loved us. It is a love that honors God and His Word. It is a love that serves others without demanding anything in return. It is a love that enables the Christian to love the unlovely, precisely because the Christian is also aware that she is a sinner and is repugnant to our Holy God, BUT FOR the righteousness of Christ that she has been given through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise the Lord for His wonderful mercy and grace and for Agape Love.

Damaris sings How Deep the Father’s Love for Us on her The Heart of God album. It is a beautiful song that touches my heart each time I hear it. Let the words speak to you as you consider Agape Love and your response to the Spirit as He leads you into a new appreciation of God’s Love! Praise His Holy Name!

Agape love – it truly is way more than casseroles and cards!

Next week we will begin our look at the fruit of the Spirit – Joy.

Fruit of the Spirit, No. 4, Love, Part One.

May 6, 2016 | lindamowles

When I started this study, I thought that the first fruit, love, would be simple to talk about. You know, sending people cards when they are ill, preparing casseroles when there is a need … all those things that we do under the name of love for our fellow man. However, as I searched Scripture about what the fruit of the Spirit of love was, I had to rethink my definition … I pray that you will see that Agape Love is way more than casseroles and cards!

What does Scripture say?

We know from 1 Corinthians 13 that love is a gift of the Spirit, and Paul calls it the greatest of all the gifts.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13.

But love is not only a gift of the Spirit, it is also the first fruit of the Spirit that Paul identifies in Galatians Chapter 5.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:21-22.

Therefore, you might not have been given love as a gift of the Spirit, but you still must exhibit love because love is also the first fruit of the Spirit which is resident in you because the Holy Spirit is within you. In short, love is the only virtue that is both a fruit and a gift of the Spirit.

In considering the singular word “fruit”, the Wycliffe Commentary on Galatians says that this “tends to emphasize the unity and coherence of the life and the Spirit as opposed to the disorganization and instability of life under the dictates of the flesh.”

ORANGE - LOVE — LOVE – WAY MORE THAN CASSEROLES AND CARDS!

You will recall that we are using the orange as a representation of the fruit of the Spirit. Each believer has the entire fruit because the Holy Spirit resides in her heart. Therefore, each believer has each segment of the fruit. Here we are considering love.

So, what is Love?

We know that there are three primary words for love in the New Testament that enrich its meaning in Scripture beyond what our English translation can provide. First is Eros from which we derive erotic, or romantic love, sexual and physical; it is a love that desires to possess for personal benefit.

Second is Phileo from which we get Philadelphia and philanthropy, words that mean companionship and friendship.

Third is Agape love. This is the New Testament Greek word that describes God’s love for us. Agape love is the result of a decision that commits itself to the well-being of the beloved regardless of the condition or reaction of the one who is loved: this is the love that comes from God. One who is nice, compassionate, and even charitable, may be exhibiting a kind of love but, if these actions come from a non-believer, it cannot be Agape love.

Jonathan Edwards said in Charity and Its Fruits:

The Spirit of God is a Spirit of love, and when the former enters the soul, love also enters with it. God is love, and he that has God dwelling in him by his Spirit, will have love dwelling in him also.

Love is resident in the believer, in a way that the unregenerate person cannot understand or experience, simply because the Holy Spirit indwells the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, God the Holy Spirit is love. Jesus promised to send us the Comforter, the Paraclete, the Teacher Who would guide us as we live our lives as witnesses to Jesus’ power and glory. It is this Spirit that resides within us and it is this Spirit that transforms us into the image of Christ.

The person who is loved may not accept the love, they may not appreciate the love, and they may even despise the one offering the love; but the decision to love is unabated by the response or rejection from the one who is loved. It is for this reason that Agape love cannot be produced by us on our own nor is it resident in our spirits absent the presence of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

The supreme example of Agape love is described by Paul when he said:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Romans 5:6-10.

We, who were wallowing in our sin and were deserving of nothing but death and judgment from a Holy God, were granted righteousness and full pardon from the judgment that our sin surely deserved when Christ died for us. His sinless life, His death on the cross, and His powerful resurrection from the dead provides us with His righteousness because He took our sin and paid for it with His precious blood on the cross.

That my beloved is Agape love. Love for a being that can offer us nothing … supreme love that is contingent not on the person being loved but on the nature of the One doing the loving.

It is the love that our Lord exhibited when He took our place on that cross.

It is the love that is placed into our hearts by the Holy Spirit when He indwells us at our conversion.

How does this apply to my daily life?

The Wycliffe Commentary on Galatians also notes that the singular use of the word “fruit” may be “intended to point to the person of Christ, in whom all these things are seen in their perfection. The Spirit seeks to produce these by reproducing Christ in the believer.” Paul says later in Galatians:

“It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!”

Galatians 4:18-19.

So, how should I respond to this love? First and foremost, remembering what God did for us should bring us to our knees in humble thanksgiving and in renewed dedication to do His will and work in our world.

Second, this love should influence our desire to be in God’s Word and to pray in praise, thanksgiving, supplication and adoration.

Listen to this vocal offering of the song How Deep the Father’s Love for Us as sung by Damaris on her album entitled The Heart of God and think how it reveals Agape Love:

In future posts we will consider various aspects of this love! For now, bow before our God and thank Him for loving us and calling us to Himself. Then, consider whether your life exhibits a self-sacrificing love for God and then for others.