Gifts of the Spirit


In Galatians 5:22 Paul writes this: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.

If each of us who are living as Christians has these fruits which are evident in our speech and in our lives every day then others will see them and know that we belong to Christ. So, how can we show these fruits to others? Notice the very first one is love, without this in your heart which Jesus placed there because He loved you and me first none of the other fruits will grow in your life at all.

The second fruit is joy and it is expressed not by being happy all of the time but by knowing the joy of being loved by God! Knowing this there is nothing in this world which can get to you and get you down. Oh, there will be days and sometimes weeks when something or someone will get you down but if you will start your day with a prayer and thank God for another day to serve Him then He will lift you up!

God will not allow you to have a really bad day if you start it with Him first! Just as the Feast of Firstfruits blesses the rest of the harvest when we bring our “firstfruits” to God, beginning the day with Him does the very same thing. Thank Him for another day to serve when you wake up, or soon after, and the rest of the day will be blessed. Does this mean that nothing will go wrong if you do this daily? No, it is not a guarantee of a perfect day every day, but it is a step in the right direction.

Peace and patience come with the other gifts and fruits but never, ever pray for patience! You will learn the lesson but you will not enjoy it. The peace which we know through Christ is the peace which we have knowing that our future in eternity is sealed! Kindness is a fruit which goes along with love and patience and all of the other fruits which the Spirit gives to each of us when we are made into “new creations in Christ“. Of course, even as believers, we are still at war with our “old nature which has passed away“, even though it (our old nature) is conquered in Christ it still is used by Satan to try to make us stumble and fall and doubt our salvation.

All of the fruits of the spirit are available to us but every believer will not show all of them. Some will have one or two, some will show all of them as they mature in their salvation through prayer and learning from God’s Word. Just as God gives us gifts through His Spirit, He also gives us our fruits of His Spirit so that others can see that we belong to Him and want what we have. So, if you are a child of God, seek out your gifts and your fruit and give some away to others. Amen

What do you need?


In truth that is the WRONG QUESTION!! It is not what do you need or how much money do you need, but Who do you need? Is it that hard to understand? It is Jesus the Christ that our world needs! Every country, every individual, NEEDS Jesus in their life! Why do they not know about Him as their Savior? It is because of us.

Americans claim to be Christians but our society and the culture,which every other country sees evidence of in the news, does not show that our country and our people truly are Christians!

It is because of our collective claim of being Christian but it has a faulty proof.

We have come to think or believe that just because we are born into a family which goes to church that we are Christians. Some think that because they have attended church most or all of their lives, they are Christians. Christianity does not come to each of us because of osmosis or proximity. Each of us is called by God through interaction with the Holy Spirit and by faith as well.

The person and nature of Jesus is the One that came to save us and He put His nature as God the Son aside to do this. That is something that we don’t understand because our needs or rather our wants are not centered around being disciples of Jesus, which is what we are actually called to do.

Although, in being disciples we are supposed to be more like Jesus too. What do I mean by that? I mean that we are supposed to tell others about Jesus at work, in Walmart, on the street if the opportunity presents itself. In other words, we are supposed to take Jesus with us and be His witness to every person that we meet. If we don’t know them, then we should get to know them.

I don’t mean to be pushy about it and don’t act like a street preacher yelling at people, but if or when the opportunity arises then tell them what Jesus did for you. God sent Jesus to all people and when Jesus told His disciples to go into all of the world and preach the gospel, He meant ALL OF THE WORLD! Good places and places you might not feel comfortable with, but if you take another believer with you then Jesus is there in the midst of it with you too!

Life places us in places where we are comfortable and uncomfortable, when it does then tell anyone who might listen about your Lord and Savior. If it is at work or school or wherever it might be, then make sure that Jesus is there with you. If you aren’t carrying Him out of the church, then what good is your faith and your Christianity doing in this world?