Let The River Flow!

It wasn’t too long ago, I was driving by my old stomping grounds on Duby Road in Acton, Ontario and one of the things that really struck me was the pond behind my house which used to be a place for swimming and hockey had now turned into a swamp full of bulrushes, weeds and almost completely overgrown.  This happens over time when there is no constant stream flowing into it.  Spiritual rebirth is like going from stagnation to the raging power of a great river.  It is there that a flowing stream brings life to everything along its way. My aim is that we will discover in very practical ways a clear understanding of how we can position ourselves so that the spirit of generosity can flow through us!

Did you know that the subject of giving is mentioned 2500 times in the Bible?  The next closest subject is only mentioned 500 times.  This alone is fairly motivating for us to consider as we explore it.  The Word is very clear on the incredible joy and blessing of giving.  Most followers of Jesus would like to be more giving but see so many challenges that get in the way. 

When I mention the word giving, what automatically pops into your mind?

So we are going to take a step back…before you start thinking of this message as all about money, it’s not.  I want you to first understand the way that you have been designed as it relates to what God is doing in you and through you.

You have been designed to allow the living presence of God to flow in you and out through you like a powerful, rushing river. 

John 7:37 "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

Why is the Holy Spirit compared to a stream of living water, a river?  What is so significant about a river?

So, we are going to begin by looking at actual rivers in the Bible and listen to what the river is actually accomplishing.

The Bible begins with a river which flowed from the Garden of Eden and flowed into the major tributaries  (turn to Genesis 2:10-12)

The river flowed to a land where gold is found , to land that is exceptionally pure, a place where the most precious stones are found as well and the Tigrus and Euphrates River.  In ancient times, you wanted to be along the river because it was there that the passage of all goods would take place and trading would be done.

The Bible also closes with a picture of heaven where the river flows through the central part of the city in Revelation 22.(turn there)  Wherever the river flowed, there was life.  There were trees of life that grew along each side of the river.  The river brings perfect order.

·         The River is a picture of the Holy Spirit.

John 7:38  - that is you and I

To be born again is to be part of that very flow of the Spirit and the presence of God.  Without His living presence we can easily fall back into becoming a pond or even worse a dam.  A pond or a sea can only contain water, it does not give water.  A dam completely blocks the flow and tries to contain the water with a focus on one’s own security.

·         We are designed for outward flow.

Ezekiel 47:1-9

A vision of a river

Ezekiel 47 mirrors this passage in Revelation and it is a vision of a river.  Ezekiel had the same vision and the realization was that the river flowed from the south side of the temple.  God is the river that is always giving, always flowing into our lives if we let Him.  It is a picture of the infinite generosity of a generous God.

Like Ezekiel, we are called to go into the river and we can go in ankle deep, knee deep and even to the place we can’t touch as we are led by the Spirit.

So, my question is where are you in the river?

·         You were meant to go with the flow...the flow of the Spirit

We have been created for generosity…so fast forward

On the last day of the seven day Feast of Tabernacles, thousands would gather in the temple and the priests would begin to act out the very vision of Ezekiel.  They would be dressed in white robes and would walk down to the Pool of Siloam very reverently and would fill up their golden pitchers with water.  They would then take the water and pour it out over the temple floor and it was created in such a way that the water would then flow out down the south side part of the temple past the altar.  The crowd would shout with incredible joy and for the nation it was a powerful reminder that through the nation of Israel the presence of God would flow to all nations.

(Take water and pour it on the floor... I really want to burn this picture into us!

It would be at this incredible event that Jesus, looked upon as a young rabbi, would proclaim loudly in John 7:37 "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

What was the response...

It was incomprehensible for so many to believe that the temple was not the source of the river because they were really wrapped up in the physical temple being the source of the river.

1 Peter 2:5...we have become the living stones of God’s temple and the powerful rush of water was meant to flow through us to transform barren and broken lives with His love.

We come to Christ to drink and a river of living water will flow out from within us.

We were meant to be leaky temples!  It was meant to leak and hopefully at some point just pour out of us.

So, when we are born again, we truly begin to care about what God cares about and pursue what He pursues.  It is literally within us and so we can’t stay stagnant.

To become a river, you have to deny self in the sense that you no longer come first.

The origin of the river is in the complete reversal of what has come naturally to all people.  It is for that reason that it is often a river that goes against the flow of culture.  We are changed to the point where move from getting to giving and from selfishness to sacrifice.

Our rivers are born when we die to getting and learn to start living by giving

It was Satan who started the lie that changed the direction of the flow of the river in his heart when He challenged Eve in the garden to become like God...you can have everything, you can have it all, all the knowledge, all the power in essence to become retaining ponds.

Fear over possessions either gained or lost is a picture of that pond mentality which measures life by the amount of water in one’s pond.  The river mentality measures how much flow is going out and giving life to others all along the way.

Fruit is the evidence of the flow

Ezekiel 47:10-12

In the garden, the enemy convinced both Adam and Eve into believing that God is not fair and that He holds out on us.  That is a lie straight from the pit of hell to believe that God is a miserly God.  Satan would love nothing better than for us to hold tightly onto everything we have, in essence to not trust God as our supplier and instead hoard our possessions. When we make concern for ourselves first, we separate ourselves from the joy, the life, the growth that God desires for us and we simply dry up and become overgrown as we see in Ezekiel 47v11’but the marshes and swamps will not be purified; they will be sources of salt.

All NT references to the lack of fruit or barrenness are pictures of death, of loss, of hell itself.  They are the stagnant ponds rather than the life giving rivers.

We can either believe the lies of Satan that we must hold on to everything like a pond turning into a swamp or believe that God will just keep pouring into us like a river

·         Complete Dependency is the means to increased flow.

 Remember that Ezekiel’s guide measured the river four times and the realization is that when God is the source of the river, He will be the one that will create the ever increasing flow.

1 John 3:1

How great is the love of the Father that He lavishes on us that we should be called the children of God.  (God’s extravagant love)

He wants to pour out His abundance through us.

Salvation is God using us as the streams of living water to the dry and weary land where we live.

Here’s the takeaway

Let the Holy Spirit lead you to the places you can touch with your feet!
Learn the process of surrender.

I’m asking that we would all ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what it is that we would fast from in order to allow the spirit of giving flow through us like it never has before.  For some of you, it might mean a sacrifice of time in order to serve others, for others; maybe it is to fast from facebook…It may mean a sacrifice of some forms of entertainment in order to make a sacrificial offering at Christmas.

If you are a child of God, it is IN YOU to give!!

How's Your Serve?

I’ll never forget the time Sharon and I were on staff at a camp all summer as the program directors and getting challenged to give at the end of our ministry there.   One of the board of directors stood up and spoke to us from Malachi 3:10 and challenged us not to rob God with our tithes and offerings.  I was thinking to myself...tithes and offerings, I haven’t even seen any form of pay yet!  The fact was that we were basically working for peanuts and I needed every last cent to put towards going to Seminary that Fall.  Anyways, the whole presentation really didn’t sit well with me, but God would do an overhaul on my attitude over the next 12 hours.  I’ll get back to that story later.

Galatians chapter 6 presents us with the opportunity to get involved in the lives of others in a meaningful way.

Others, it is all about others in the New Testament, from love each other, pray with each other, build each other up, offer hospitality to each other.  It is in moving away from self to others that we discover true freedom.  Spirit-led believers are wired to minister to each other.  We were designed to grow in community with a sense of togetherness never in isolation.  We are called to restore each other when we sin instead of being on the judgment squad saying “What is wrong with them, how could they do something like that?”  Paul quickly calls us back to our own sense of vulnerability and the realization but for the grace of God, go I. 

Paul always brought his theology down to earth. And so it is with this last chapter and all last chapters of his letters: Paul deals with practical, everyday concerns and questions that the people were asking.

This chapter comes off like a  “Dear Abby. Dear Paul.” I will walk through the last chapter of Galatians, issue by issue, concern by concern. The message will be in the form of a “Dear Paul Column.”

Column 1  Questions on Restoring Relationships  v1-5

“Dear Paul. We have this person who is a friend and part of our church. He has been doing some things that we feel are wrong, and yet we are afraid to talk to him about it. We are afraid to say anything unless we offend and hurt our friendship. Do you have any advice? Signed, Concerned Friends.”

“Dear Concerned, (I will use the New English Bible version for Paul’s responses)  If a person should do something wrong on a sudden impulse, the people who are wise and mature in Spirit must set the offending person right again, but very gently. And look to yourself, each one of you. You too may be tempted. Bear each others burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

As Christians, are always confronted with others around us who we feel are doing something contrary to the will of God, and we are afraid to say anything about it. We are safely silent with our adult children, close friends, parents. We have learned to keep our mouths shut or choose the “bystander effect”.  We don’t want to be nosey; we don’t want to be pushy; we don’t want to give advice when it is not asked for; we don’t want to appear to think we are better than they are; we don’t want to strain our friendship with them; we don’t want to make it “testy” between us. Or maybe we are plain timid or chicken or gutless.  And so for a whole variety of legitimate reasons, most of us are reluctant to tell another person our honest feelings about what they are doing.  And so we silently watch each other. We silent watch a man have very little time for his wife because he is too absorbed in his work. We silently watch a woman become so preoccupied with her job that she doesn’t have time to mother. We silently watch children acting rudely to their parents, We silently watch a friend drink too much and become consumed by alcohol. We silently watch a friend consistently lose their temper.

And in almost all of these situations, we say nothing. There is a certain stigma: don’t get involved; don’t push your way into another person’s problems; don’t say anything personally negative to another person if you value that person’s friendship. The social guidelines are not only firm; they are rigid.

Because of this stigma, nobody expects honesty or gives honesty.  And it is a shame, and the really unfortunate thing is that most find it just easier to talk about people behind their back.  “Did you see how he grabbed his kid’s arm” or, “Did you see their facebook post?”

How unfortunate. How unfortunate that honest, wise advice from loving people cannot be given, weighed in on and considered. 

Be a weight-lifter -  as I mentioned with the children and at the very least a spotter.  Have wisdom, have courage and speak the truth in love. 

Paul counsels: “If you do speak to others, be very gentle. If you do speak to others, be humble, don’t be self righteous, being very aware that you too fall short of the glory of God and succumb to temptations. If you do speak to others, it takes maturity to gently reprove another person. It takes a combination of kindness, love and insight, blended with wisdom, to speak a wise correcting word to a friend.

I remember leading a missions team to Bolivia and one of the first things we did in our training time with the missionaries there was follow through on the Matthew 18 principle before we had communion.  Often when we prepare for communion we think of approaching maybe someone that we have sinned against but the principle we followed through on was to approach those who sinned against us.  It is a lot easier just to pray God forgive them, then for us to approach them.  It is something that is done with prayer and done very slowly, carefully and thoughtfully. After we addressed each other in that way, it really led to a deeper sense of understanding.  It also paved the way for a real impact as we ministered together there.

In Matthew 23:4, it shares how the  Pharisees tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”  It was all about keeping up appearances and a legalist is always harder on others than he is on himself.  He is more interested in exposing others than in restoring them.  And this is the difference between a legalist and a gracer (a Spirit-led Christian), it demands more of oneself so that you might be able to help others. 

Here is another letter. “Dear Paul. We have this person who is really full of themselves. She love to tell how good she is. She is also critical of others and pulls them down as if to constantly compare herself to others. She is hard to be around because she is always putting us down and building herself up. Signed. Getting Tired of It.” …

 “Dear Getting Tired of It. If a person imagines himself or herself to be a somebody, when he or she is nothing; that person is deluding himself. Each person should examine his own conduct for himself. Then he can measure his achievement by comparing himself with himself and not with anybody else.”

We are all aware of this tendency in ourselves to compare ourselves to other people. It happens all the time, when we measure ourselves against people.  It so easy to do, people just are driven to compare, compare clothes, compare cars, compare homes, spouses, children, you name it and then we either walk around depressed because we are not good enough or we walk around

And really it is a foolish game to compare ourselves to others and yet that is what the.  The competitive edge that we need to bring to the table is our commitment to carry each other’s burdens. Christ is the power who sets us free from the need to elevate ourselves, thinking we are better or more worthy than others; that we are more superior. Christ is the personal spiritual power who sets us free from feelings of inferiority; that we are not as valuable as so and so who has the big bank account, the big brains, the big house, the big car, the big job. Christ is the indwelling presence of God who frees us from all that nonsense about superiority and inferiority, allowing all classes and grades and types and styles of people to be friends and love one another.

The hidden tragedy of this whole disease of comparing one’s self to another (superiority complex, I am better than others; inferiority complex, I am worse than others) is that a person is not free to love the other person. A person is so busy comparing himself or herself to others, we become preoccupied with that.  To be free in Christ is that Christ liberates us from the disease of superiority or inferiority.

Column 2  Questions on Giving v6-10

Dear Paul.  Why do we give 10% anyways?  Where does the money go?

Paul is addressing a need in the church to faithfully provide for the pastor and the ministry of instruction.  The tithe is an OT principle based on the people honoring God with their firstfruits, the top of their crop! 

Leviticus 27:30 "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD."

This Scripture states that all the tithe, whether it be seed of the land, fruit of the tree, or one tenth of all that you earn, is holy unto the Lord. Deuteronomy 14:22-29 states that one-tenth of all that comes into your possession, belongs to God. This was God's plan to instruct His people as to the way of blessings that He had for them. God is a multiplier by nature, and He could not multiply that which was not entrusted to Him.

The Old Testament records two other tithes; one tithe was called the "festival tithe," when they came to Jerusalem three times a year for fellowship. The expense for the festival, (travel, food, etc.) was taken from this tithe. The third tithe was given in the third year and was a tithe holy unto the Lord. It was a tithe of almsgiving for the poor and needy. All of these tithes were brought to the storehouse, and the priest oversaw the distribution of same. The first tithe was for the upkeep of the priests, since they had no inheritance. All of their income and portion was to be given to them by God's people. This tithe in and of itself, is not considered an offering. It is the minimum requirement for all of God's people.

The reason God instituted the second and the third tithe through Moses, was that His children needed to give above and beyond this tithe. It is these tithes that God is referring to in Malachi 3:8 where His people have robbed Him in tithes and offerings. In verse 10 of Malachi 3, He challenges the people to see if they can outgive God.  You can’t.  You trust God with your finances and you honor Him first, and make it your desire to be a generous person and He will pour out blessings on you that you won’t have enough room to contain it.  Because that is what giving does, it flows over and it’s contagious

Offerings were given above and beyond tithes.  They were given sacrificially.  Some people say well, I give to sponsor children and that is part of my tithe.  Sponsoring children is great, but God put the local church in place as the starting point for giving.  The bench mark that God gave us to start with is 10%

 So to finish my story that I started with about the day that ‘giving’ completely turned around for me was that God reminded me to trust Him in giving back to the camp that I worked for above and beyond my tithe.  At this point, I knew that God was going to show up because there was no way that we had money to pay for tuition and rent, but God was faithful.  When we arrived in London, we put our resumes out and within a day, God provided Sharon with a full time job and four days later, I had a part time job and we were able to go through school debt free!

 I am not going to tell you that if you give God $10-, you can expect to receive 10 times that in the mail like some do, but I will tell you that when you are faithful with your firstfruits and your giving to God, He will supply all of your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!  Philippians 4:19

1 Corinthians 16:1  Paul expands on his answer. 

I am convinced that when people see the tithe as an instrument of blessing they will not be looking for a way to give less, but a way to give more. God will help them so that they can be generous on every occasion. The 10% tithe was a guide that God gave us to start from.

You might ask but Jack, we are not under law, we are under grace and I would agree; however, the law wasn’t put away, it was simplified and it was written on our heart, not on tablets of stone.

2 Corinthians 9:7

Giving is not just about meeting the needs of the church, its about blessing!

Here is another letter addressed to the Apostle Paul.  “Dear Paul. Sometimes Christianity does not seem to pay off. In the Bible, there is all that stuff about God blessing the good people and punishing the bad people. Yet I know a lot of so called bad people who have made it pretty well off. They seem to mock God’s laws and nothing happens. Their lives don’t seem to be so punished. I must confess that every once in a while, I feel like caving in and doing what they are doing. What do you think? Signed, the Questioner.”

Paul responds: “Dear Questioner.  Make no mistake about it. God is not mocked. A person reaps what he or she sows. If he sows in the field of his sin nature, he will reap from a harvest of self destruction. If he sows in the field of the spirit, the spirit will bring him a harvest of eternal life. So let us never tire of doing good. For if we do not slack in our  efforts, we shall in due time reap our harvest. Therefore, let us work for the good of all people, but especially for the good of those who are Christians.

You reap what you sow. This is as fundamental as the law of nature

A consequence of living a life in the sinful nature , is that people always get hurt. People always get hurt. That is the way it has always been, and that is the way it will always be.

Finally, one more letter to Paul. “Dear Paul. What really counts? You have been writing letter after letter after letter. Now, tell us plainly and clearly. What really counts for you? What is really important to you? Sum it all up for us. Signed, the Heart of the Matter.” …

Dear Heart of the Matter. All the religious rituals that you have learned from childhood are not that important. Circumcision? Uncircumcision? This is nothing. The only thing that counts if a new creation; that you are a new person in Christ Jesus.”

The new creation. The new person. The Apostle Paul, when it is all said and done, wants one thing: that we are to be new people. He echoes this theme in several of his letters:  From II Corinthians 5:  “When anyone is united to Christ, that person is a new creation. The old has gone; the new has begun.” From Ephesians 4: “You are made new in mind and spirit. Put on the new nature of God’s creation.” From Colossians 3: Put on a new nature. The new nature is constantly being renewed in the image of God, the Creator.”

John Fisher puts a spin on the NEW this way

A follower of Christ looks at:

death and thinks life,
losing and thinks winning,
tragedy and thinks opportunity,
brokenness and thinks humility,
accidents and thinks purpose,
coincidence and thinks destiny,
despair and thinks hope,
poverty and thinks wealth,
wealth and thinks poverty,
failure and thinks success,
the seen and thinks about the unseen,
history and thinks God's story,
science and thinks God's laws,
psychology and thinks Christ's wisdom,
anthropology and thinks God's image,
astronomy and thinks God's heavens,
the human body and thinks God's dwelling place,
war and thinks man's rebellion,
the cross and thinks everything made new,
truth and thinks Jesus.

What does Paul want for us? That we are to be new people, in Christ Jesus.  Be a believer who is ready for the service of the saints.  The opportunities to speak the truth in love are best found in our small group ministry.  This is when we are supposed to really be honest with each other.  Opportunities to give come in the form of our finances, but also in the form of ministry – do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers – minister side by side, discover your passion and know that the only thing that counts Paul says is “faith expressing itself in love” 5:6.  Finally, believe you are a new creation, a new person, let that center you and ground you!

The Freedom of Love

Sharon and I had the opportunity to connect with a couple who were dealing with an evil presence in their home this past week.  As we prayed, the Spirit brought to Sharon’s attention the parable of the house swept clean in Luke 11;25; Matthew 12:44  It is about a man who experienced freedom from demon oppression only to find himself once again possessed by seven demons!  As we studied this passage what became clear is this.  It’s not enough just to have you spiritual house clean, we need our house to be filled with the Holy Spirit and with the truth of God’s Word!  It was in sharing this revelation that brought great freedom and understanding to the couple.  We did pray the presence and the name of Jesus over every room in the house, but it is the ongoing plan to saturate ourselves with His presence that will give us the continued freedom we long for. 

Luke 4:18-19, Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

As followers of Jesus, we are an extension of Jesus’ mission!

Experiencing The Freedom From Sin To Serve In Love  5:13-15

In Galatians 5, Paul starts off by saying Christ has set us free, freedom from all the religious rules and laws.  The gospel of grace is a call out of prison to sin, the debt has been paid!   However, in verse 13, he brings the argument full circle when he shares that we weren’t meant to walk from one prison of self-effort to the prison of being self absorbed!

So, what we need to know now is that this new freedom was always meant to move us from a self-preoccupation to being so aware of the needs of others.

When Christ redeemed us we became a new creation; however we are always going through the process of becoming less of self and more like Him!

The flesh or as the NIV translates “the sinful nature,” is not our actual body, but rather that impulses in us that encourage rebellion against God. Paul uses this term eight times in 5:13-6:10. C.S. Lewis calls it “the inner cesspool” that breeds snakes of evil!

If you are a fan of Lord of the Rings, it is like the “Gollum” inside you. Before you are Christian, all you are is flesh. You are a walking mass of a heart ruled by you, rebelling against God. It is everything you apart from God intervening in your life.  “We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!”

 ·It cannot please God (Rom 8:8)

· In it dwells no good thing (Rom. 7:18)

· Do not put confidence in it (Phil. 3:3)

· Do not make provision for the flesh (Rom. 13:14) by feeding it the things that it enjoys.

And once we become followers of Jesus, the law is no longer an external thing we try hard to obey, but God will now write it in our hearts, and that means the divine enablement to obey God and forgiveness when we fail to trust Him. So you have now all the resources you need to live and love, remember you are heirs of God

But it doesn’t come automatically. Notice v.15. The flesh works against this and so he says when you are not living in freedom, you become like an animal and mutual destruction is always the result.  The flesh is always wanting to rear its ugly head and demand its own rights, especially when offended.  It also uses resentment towards others as a license to act out in sinful behaviours.

Paul makes it absolutely clear that we can’t tolerate this kind of behavior or else it will destroy us!

"Lord, bend that proud and stiff necked I,
Help me to bow the head and die;
Beholding Him on Calvary,
Who bowed His head for me."  Roy Hession, Calvary Road

Serve” here means render service to, to do that which is for the advantage of someone else. He is placing service over against selfishness, the positive over against the negative. 

We are moving from being self-centered to others-centered.  It means I actually look for ways for others to have a better advantage and more clear picture of Jesus love through me. 

·         It is why you stop your car on the way to church to help someone in distress.

·         It is why we have people here who will wake up early to set up the church to make coffee, to clean the building, to set up chairs, to lead in worship music, love on your children during the service so that you can experience the beauty of Jesus’ love.

We experience freedom when we are led by the Spirit and not driven by the flesh 

Galatians 5:16-21,24-26

The Christian life is a habitual, constant, moment-by-moment intentional and deliberate choice to be in tune with the Holy Spirit.  Robin Koshy

There is a real emphasis here to focus first on living by the Spirit.  I really believe that’s important to recognize.  It is when we are walking deliberately, moment by moment, with the Spirit of God that the desire to gratify the sinful nature will pale by comparison, they just don’t satisfy.

We have two guys that we have worked with in particular at Church at the Manor.  We will call them Dale and Don.  For Dale, his whole consuming focus was to stop his smoking habit. When we met we would take time to talk about spiritual things, but it would always come back to his frustration to give up his habit.  I told him the focus here is wrong, stop worrying about this habit and start focusing on just allowing Jesus to fill you up with His presence, soak in worship music, dance before the Lord, read His Word, let it penetrate your heart. On the other hand, Don, also had a strong addiction to crack cocaine, but knew that his focus couldn’t be on the habit, but needed to be squarely placed on His walk with the Lord.  It was for that very reason he placed verses by his bathroom mirror, on his fridge, wherever it would be in His face.  He was so passionate first about His walk with the Lord that he made the decision to go to Teen Challenge as well and I would say Don is experiencing the greater freedom because his focus is in the right place… walking in the Spirit.

The “not” is a double negative here meaning, “You will ABSOLUTELY NOT gratify the desires of your flesh. It can be also be translated, “NO NEVER,” so it’s very emphatic here.

When you experience the power of the Holy Spirit working in your life, when you follow through on His promptings, it is an exciting adventure.

It is in those times that I am living out of His presence that I have the most grace, love and patience with other people.

When we get disconnected from the Source, living in the Spirit, that is when we become so vulnerable!  What happens next is so easily is that our natural learned (selfish) tendencies take control. Self-entitlement kicks in. False comforts appear like true comforts. A demanding spirit enters our soul and discouragement sets in as well.

I wonder if some of us read this verse backwards? Do we live as though if we try hard NOT to gratify the desires of the flesh, we can walk by the Spirit? That is not what Paul is saying. The solution is not to pit our will against the flesh, but to surrender our will to the Holy Spirit. Putting up a “Just say no” campaign against sin will not work. It is not saying no to the flesh that Paul encourages. It is saying yes to Christ. It is responding continually to His love  Robin Koshy

 “walking with God is a moment by moment awareness of God’s awareness of you.” Tim Keller

Anyone struggle with an approval addiction?  If I’m continually going for the likes and seeking the affirmation of others, it will always let me down. What I believe God our Father wants you to know is this.  “Focus on being alive to my approval. You belong to me. Your worth is in me. Your significance is in me and as you do that, their approval won’t have any hold on you.

 Remember Galatians 1:10

We experience freedom when our lives bear the fruit (essence) of what we believe.  Galatians 5:22,23

²² But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

I love the honesty in the way Jon Courson describes it: “Jesus said, ‘Here’s the key to bearing fruit: Stay close to Me. If you cut yourself off from Me in any way, at any time, you won’t bring forth fruit. If you abide in Me, fruit will come supernaturally, naturally.’ Looking at my apple tree, I notice that when the branches abide, when they simply cling to the trunk, blossoms come forth, and fruit is produced. I never see the apple tree struggling, sweating, or red in the face. Yet I do see Christians straining and striving, grunting and groaning because they fail to understand that the secret of fruit-bearing is not to try to figure out how to make fruit. The secret of fruit-bearing is abiding, just hanging in there with the Lord.”

Love here is not the feeling, but sacrificial action, self-giving service.

Joy is inner gladness, a supernatural delight in the person and plan of God despite circumstances.

Peace is the presence of Lord, not just the absence of trouble. It is the inner tranquility of the Lord (Phil. 4:7, John 14:27).

Patience has to do with tolerance and long-suffering that endures injuries inflicted by others, the calm willingness to accept situations that are irritating or painful.

 Kindness is tender concern for others, to treat them as the Lord would.

Faithfulness is dependability, “Well done good and faithful servant.” You did what you said you would do.

Gentleness is someone who is submissive to the will of God (Col. 3:12) and teachable (James 1:21), and takes consideration of others (Eph. 4:2). Such a person does not have a sense of entitlement. 

Self-control is restraining passions and appetites.  

Robin Kolby

All the fruit of the Spirit – notice it’s singular.  The Holy Spirit enables us to possess them all.  We don’t get to pick and choose.

The fruit of the Spirit all are an expression of love and there’s a neat parallel to 1 Corinthians 13

Love  - love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited

Joy – love finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth

Peace – love does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, does not keep a record of wrongs

Kindness- love is kind

Patient – love is patient

Faithfulness – love believes all things

Gentleness – love bears all things

Self Control – love endures all things, love never fails.