Fruit given…do you receive?
In Galatians 5:22-23 we read
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Let us look at this for a moment.
These are characteristics produced by the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life and are given ONLY BY GOD.
The first three: love, joy, peace are inner qualities that reflect our Christian relationship with God. The next three patience, kindness, goodness shows themselves in the Christian attitude and actions in that person towards his neighbors, friends and family.
The last three faithfulness, gentleness and self-control reflect how we should conduct ourselves at all times in our lives.
- Joy is always used to signify the deep-down sense of well being that is in the heart of the person who belongs to God and knows God.
- Peace refers to the tranquility of mind and spirit that comes from having a relationship with God.
- Patience means to endure injuries and hurts inflicted by others and willingness to accept situations.
- When a person is all that he can be, humane, decent, reliable, gentle and kind with character that helps others in need then he has kindness.
- Goodness comes with moral, spiritual excellence and means doing well to others, it is not only doing nice things but standing up against bad things.
- Gentleness means forgiving others as the Lord has fully forgiven you.
- Self-control refers to the ability to restrain passions and appetites
- An act of charity is Holy in the Lord’s sight, it is an act of worship
- Stewardship is a spiritual principle based on the word of God.
However, what I would like to speak about tonight is faith which goes hand in hand with love.
We carry on regardless of the misunderstandings, the disappointments because God has called us to be faithful.
Mark 11:12-14
And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it.
Mark 11: 20-24
And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
HAVE FAITH IN GOD
The God kind of faith is the kind of faith in which a man believes with his heart and says with his mouth that which he believes in his heart and it comes to pass. Jesus showed that He had that kind of faith after the fig tree was cursed.
THIS IS THE KIND OF FAITH THAT SPOKE THE WORLD INTO EXISTENCE.
HOW DID HE DO IT?
He believed in what he said.
The faith that a man believes with his heart, says with his mouth what he believes, and it comes to pass.
Now we say, we want that kind of faith, we pray “God, please give that faith to me”
GOOD NEWS…
You do not need to pray for it, you already have it.
Romans 12:3
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Paul is saying here that the faith by which we are saved is not of ourselves, it is not a natural human faith, but a faith given to people/sinners by God, HOW:
Romans 10:17
So, then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
God causes the God kind of faith to come into the hearts of those who hear, you cannot let it go in one ear and out the other, it will not work, it is no fairytale but when you accept it, faith comes.
How many of us realize that our words dominate us, we talk failure and doubt, defeat, it rises like a giant and imprisons us. Wee, we are not born of the will of the flesh but the will of God, we are created in Christ Jesus and god does not make failures.
God created the whole universe with words, when words are filled with faith, they are the most powerful things in all the world. The key is believing with our hearts and confessing with our mouths with what we believe. We can fill our words with faith or with doubt, with love or with hate.
Jesus told the woman with the issue of blood that her faith made her whole.
Now thoughts and feelings may come and persist in staying but if we refuse to put those thoughts into words, they die. So, what is stopping us from having this kind of faith:
- Failure to become a new creation in Christ
We have accepted Jesus in our lives but yet we still do all the same old nasty things we used to do, the sinful things, we need to be reborn in Christ
- Failure to understand our place in Christ
Read your bible, get to know Christ and say, ‘this is who I am’, ‘this is what I have in Christ’
- We fail to understand righteousness
The blood of Jesus has washed us clean, we need to be in right standing with God
- Failure to understand the right to use the name of Jesus.
The name above all names, the one who died for us, there is power in the name of Jesus, ask in my name and you will receive
- We fail to act on the word of God
People ask us to pray for them, do we? The bible states to lay hands on and pray, do you?
God’s word is true, so let it become a reality in your life.
When the storms of life come, we see people fall, with sickness, financial, family, problems others.
Paul did not say that he could do all things, he said I can do all things through Christ… we all have this same access to Jesus, there is no natural force in the world that can conquer you so why do you allow it, where is your faith.
Step one: say it
Step two: do it
Step three: receive it
Step four: tell it
This day I accept Jesus Christ as my healer and declare that I am now healed from anything that holds me back from true faith, I am well. I promise God to use this new found strength , life, energy for His purpose and to further the gospel, I promise God that I will share this truth with others.
Real faith is acting on the word.
