The Gap of Disobedience

For the last two weeks, I had been reading the book of Acts. Paul's vision recorded in Acts 22:17-21 (NIV)taught me much.

Paul was a true Jew, an ex-Pharisee and zealous persecutor of Jesus and His followers. As a Pharisee, he was highly respected by the Jews. His love for his people was genuine.

Consequently, when he finally understood the love of Jesus for him and mankind, he was determined to bring the good news to his fellow Jews.

Unfortunately, many of his fellow Jews did not share his vision at all. They treated Paul as a betrayer of their nation, religion and culture. But Paul's love of them was so strong that he tried over and over again to share the good news to the Jews.

The Jews would not listen and caused trouble for Paul. The Lord intervened in a vision to Paul to warn him of impending trouble and asked him to leave Jerusalem quickly. But Paul debated with the Lord (Acts 22:19).

“‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. ²⁰ And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’

Instead of obeying the Lord's command to leave, Paul argued using his human "credibility", thinking that the Jews would accept him for what he had done before. In giving the answer, Paul was finding a reason to stay and preach to the Jews again. As noble as his aim was, Paul was simply disobeying the Lord.

I reflected on my own experiences.

God has spoken to me constantly. There are times that I simply refuse to accept what He said. Like Paul, I give excuses, many were humanly valid. And whenever I persisted to have my way, I got into trouble.

But Paul was obedient. After giving his excuse, he heard the Lord telling him that He was sending him "far away to the Gentiles. " Acts 22:21. Paul obeyed.


A pastor once preached, "Between hearing God's instruction and obeying Him exists the gap of disobedience! That is, until we obey, we are disobeying."

But it was what he said next that really woke me up from my slumber, "Satan thrives in the realm of disobedience and in that gap of your disobedience, you allow Satan to have dominion!"

How more clear can it be said of what is true and dangerous?

It woke me up from my slumber. I hope my sharing will also wake you up. Let's be determined not to allow Satan to have dominion over us. Let's ask the Holy Spirit to help us to obey God instantly!

God bless.

Steven

A Resistant Rebel

In the last fortnight, my contemplation pointed to one desire - to have a vibrant prayer life. From the teaching at the weekly Bible Study Fellowship, to reading Selwyn Hughes' devotional article and Ps Edmund Chan's "Growing Deep in God", the Holy Spirit prompted me vividly that I must grow in this practice.

I learned that in order to have a vibrant prayer life, I must be careful to deliberately give up any things that are vying for my time and interest. Such things take away my focus and energy to have a vibrant prayer life.

Amongst many of such distractions cited by Ps Edmund, an unyielded life is my problem. 

Not yielding to God is a deliberate act of rebellion. Selwyn Hughes put it aptly:

"The desire to resist God's rule and reign is deeply ingrained within each one of us ... The heart is indeed a resistant rebel." 

This is an issue of the fallen state of man. Satan has tricked too many of us, too often, to "do it my way" instead of yielding to God. 

Too often we trust our our capability to tackle a problem instead of first inquiring the Lord for His guidance. 

Too often we plan with our limited wisdom and then ask God to bless our imperfect plan.

What then is a yielded life?

As I search my heart for areas which I have not yielded to God, I realized an important truth; even if I have yielded 99% of myself to God, my life is unyielded. That remaining 1% simply makes my entire life unyielded.

That is why the very first message Jesus preached, when He begun His ministry, addressed the very issue. His message was simply, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17b. He addressed the most fundamental issue of unyieldedness by providing the solution - repentance. It is the direct act of addressing the rebellion of man. 

Only if I repent before God then can I begin to live a life totally yielded to Him. Only then can I have a vibrant prayer life, that is, a life of constant and close fellowship with Abba Father. Only then is my life abundant!

God bless.


Steven

I still sin

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8

I don't worship any god besides Jehovah God. I don't murder, steal, commit adultery, dishonor my parents nor bear false testimony against any body. In other words, I don't breach the ten commandments, I think.

But I still stumble and fall into sin at times. Are you surprised? 

Selwyn Hughes pointed out that some believers "see themselves as having come to a place in their Christian life where it is not possible to sin ... a very dangerous attitude to hold - yet there are many who hold it."

I concur wholeheartedly. It is too easy to deceive ourselves we have no sin. 

Just because I do not see myself manifesting those obvious sins, it does not mean that I am free from sin. The greatest danger comes from subtle sin, for example, self-centeredness.

The Lord says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34) Being self-centered breaks this command. Breaking the Lord's command is sin.

So, on a daily basis, as soon as I consider my interest above those of others, or when I do not love another person as I should, I have sinned.

Yes, I still stumble and fall sometimes. 

I remind myself that I must acknowledge my failure, confess my sin before Abba Father and repent. Only then will I allow the Holy Spirit to do His work of sanctification in me.


I am assured by the words of 1 John 9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Thank God for His grace and mercy!

God bless.
Steven

A New Year, A Refreshed Vision

^"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you...."

Matthew 28:19-20a (NIV)

At my church's New Year's day service, my senior pastor cast the vision for the congregation - "Live Life Missionally." In a nutshell, this means to shift our focus outward to win souls and to disciple them to grow deeply in love with Abba Father.

I believe that it is not just a vision for my church. It should be a vision for all believers! Because that is exactly what our Lord commanded us to do.  

Matthew 28:18-20 records this clearly. It is the most important command for us as it was the Lord's last command before He ascended to the Father's side.
 
"Living" is a continuous present tense. Therefore, it means to do it in every living moment in our life. Is it possible? Is it easy? Or will it be another airy-fairy "no-action-talk-only" statement?

I know that I will fail if I depend on my human strength. Even if I ask for help from the Holy Spirit, it will still be difficult. But I will make a start and let the Holy Spirit fuel my spark and turn it into a fire.

I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me to make every opportunity to share the good news of Christ's salvation offer. I will ask His help to be more like Jesus, to love like Him and to walk according to His ways so that I can help another brother or sister to "live life missionally" as well.

It will not be easy but I will constantly ask the Holy Spirit to help me fulfill this desire, one step at a time, in His time. My Lord says to me, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you." John 15:16 NIV.

Lord, I ask you to help me to "Live Life Missionally" from today!

God bless.

Steven

His Power in My .Weaknesses

"That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Cor 12:10

Paul described himself (and us) as merely jars of clay (2 Cor 4:7). According to Dr Tan Siang Yang of Fuller Seminary, jars of clay in Paul's time were the cheapest of the containers used. They were akin to the styro-foam boxes that we use for take-aways today.

He used it to aptly describe us! By our self, we are like dirt. But more importantly, Paul used it to magnify our weaknesses, that we have no power whatsoever in us. But the moment we acknowledge the presence of the Lord and allow Him to have His way in us, we are transformed.

Jesus is the "treasure" that Paul referred to. With Him in us, the power of God shines through and triumph in very situation. We may be "hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." (2 Cor 4:8-9)

Paul realized his weaknesses. More importantly, he realized that when he acknowledged his weaknesses, he allowed God's power to manifest. That conviction led him to say “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Beloved, ask the Holy Spirit to help us to constantly realize that we are like jars of clay, that which can and will be transformed by the in filling of the Holy Spirit. And when that happens, we will reflect God's power and glory.

God bless.

Steven

My Ego

^"You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."

Philippians 2:5 (NLT)

Ego is a Latin word that means self, the “I” of any person. 

I cannot and do not want to suppress my ego nor pretend that I do not have one. Neither do I want to let my ego become bigger than it should be nor to be selfish and self-centered. What can I do?

Paul tells me that I should not look out only for my own interests, but take an interest in others too (Phil 2:4 NLT). He further said that I must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus has (Phil 2:5-8 NLT).

What this means to me is that I must surrender my ego, the "I, me and myself", totally to my Lord. Only then, will I have a Christ-centric ego that can be useful for His Holy purposes.

As I continue to work out my salvation, I lay my ego at Jesus' feet and remind myself to "Do everything without complaining and arguing, .... shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people." Philippians 2:14-15 (NLT)

God bless.

Steven

Burdens - Right or Wrong?

"Cast your burden on the Lord, He shall sustain you . . ."
Psalm 55:22 (NKJV)

What is a burden?

A web dictionary defines it as "that which is carried - a load,

that which is borne with difficulty - obligation, an oppressive one."

 

The original Hebrew word in this verse is "bhy" which is translated as a "lot". The Greek word is "meÑrimna" which means "care or anxiety".

Whichever the word used, Abba Father is telling me to "throw away, shed off" any oppressive load that I am carrying. Peter reminded that I must "cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7).

I will not want to carry any burdens of sin and doubt, these are wrong burdens which only serve to drag me down in my relationship with Him.

However, there are "burdens" that He places in my heart, for example, for the lost, for the husbands and wives and families who are in trouble, for the ministry, etc. These are burdens that He has assigned me; tasks that I want to put in time and effort to complete.

Still, He says to me, "cast your burden upon Me...", because He will sustain me when I am carrying out these tasks. These, I cast not away but cast unto Him so that I can find the strength to complete my service to Him where He has led and placed me.

Oswald Chambers aptly wrote "Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don’t just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it. You will see that your burden is then lightened by the sense of companionship. But you should never try to separate yourself from your burden."

 

Join me to do just that!

God bless.

Steven

Self-Control or Spirit-Control

The final trait of the Holy Spirit's fruit is self-control.

From the original Greek word, the definition is the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions. The translated word in KJV is temperament. It has also been defined as "the self controlled by the Holy Spirit."

On the temperament track, the self controlled by the Holy Spirit will rid us of our emotional outburst such as anger, rage, fear and jealousy. With this trait, the believer will become one that is consistent, dependable and well-ordered.

On the virtue of mastering one's desires and passion, the believer will be able to overcome behaviors that do not conform to God's character. These are described in Gal 5:19-20, "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like."

I can only say that I am a "work-in-progress" as the Holy Spirit continues to sanctify my life. I am not there yet, but I thank God that I can see His hands at work in my life and in many of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

In my time of weakness, I pray for the Holy Spirit to make my heart to yield to His prompting. There are many times that I fail but He is ever faithful and He keeps at working on me. Praise the Lord!

To conclude my sharing on the fruit of the Spirit, I want to go back to the reason for sharing this. It was about three months ago that when I was verbally abused. Instead of reacting as I normally do, that is, to reply with equally abusive words, I gave a gentle answer. At that moment, even thought a nasty quarrel was avoided, I thought I have lost the will and zeal to fight and defend myself; I would have done that a few year ago.

It was then the Lord directed me to Gal 5:22-23 and assured me that my reaction was in fact, a manifestation of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In that instance, the Holy Spirit gave me self control to turn a potentially ugly quarrel into a Spirit-control resolution.

Dear beloved, as we continue our pilgrimage here, let's remember that the Holy Spirit is at hand to be our Comforter and Counsellor. He continually sanctifies us for God's glory. Let Him do so in your life too.

God is good all the time and indeed, all the time, God is good.

God bless.

Steven

Gentleness

Gentleness is mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness and consideration.

This trait allows us to fulfill the words of Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath..." and much more.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit gives us mildness and meekness which help us to respond appropriately and without quarrel. Meekness must not be confused with cowardice. Standing meekly in the humility that Christ has shown is more courageous than the most courageous act ever.

It was this trait that got me started to learning more about the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Not too long ago, I encountered someone who was being unreasonable and extremely choleric. He made some very strong and unnecessary statements about someone that I know. He was extremely angry when he made those statements and he meant every word he said.

In times past, I would have reacted with anger and would have returned him his "favor". However, this time around, I found myself answering him gently, almost too gently to the point that I thought that I was being a coward. I thought that I was not standing up to defend my friend during that verbal tirade.

When I reached home that day, I asked the Lord if I had become a coward. That was when He directed me to Gal 5:22-23. It was then that I began to learn that I was manifesting gentleness....praise the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is not finished with me yet. I am clearly a "Work-in-Progress" project for Him. But I know for sure that I will inch forward daily as I trust my Counselor and Comforter to lead me.

Many times, I still fail to respond to someone with gentleness and am not as considerate as I should be. I may even have sent some off with an anguish heart due to my insensitivity to them.

Oh, we certainly need to depend on the Holy Spirit to fill us with this trait of His fruit. Let us all begin to ask Him daily to be our Counselor, to lead and prompt us t0 be sensitive and gentle. Let's ask Him to make us aware of the needs of others and thence to minister to these people. Let our ministry show them the love of Christ, not by words alone but by our actions.

These are not works of our own, for if that were so, we will tire ourselves quickly. Unless the Holy Spirit gives us the strength to do so, we cannot sustain it.

I pray that we all will let the Holy Spirit work gentleness into our whole being - for His glory and the expansion of His kingdom.

God bless.

Steven

Faith

Faith - a complete abandonment to and an absolute dependence upon God.

It was a rare occasion in my blogging history that I could not bring myself to post a sharing but it happened for the last 2 weeks. I was down spiritually as I struggled with my work and health.

Just after I declared that I was healed about two weeks ago, I suffered a relapse of my cervical spondoloysis and was in excruciating pain for the last 8 days.

And the trait that I was to blog on is 'faith'.

The pain in my neck and left back was so severe that it caused me to practically loose interest in everything. I had to endure the pain through my five days of church retreat. I pleaded with God at every available opportunity at the altar during the services, cried and groaned to Him and asked for relief. Relief has yet to come - I am learning the practical lesson on faith.

In this trying period, I can only depend on the Holy Spirit to give me faith to totally abandon myself to His hands as I declare His faithfulness. In faith, I declare that, "All things are possible to him that believes." (Mark 9:23).

I know that this is one trait that I have yet to manifest to the fullest. I ask of the Holy Spirit to grant me this trait and the victory of faith will complete its work in me.

God bless.

Steven

Goodness of our heart

The 6th trait of the fruit of the Spirit is goodness.

The original Greek word for goodness is translated as 'uprightness of heart'.

Goodness flows from the heart that is totally unselfish, one that wants to give more than receive. It represents benevolence in the purest sense.

I have seen this trait manifested in a number of believers, including my wife and I am learning from her. When it comes to giving of her time, words of encouragement, money etc., to others, she is so sensitive to the Holy Spirit's prompting and she strikes it right every time. By this I mean that as she is directed by the Spirit, she ministers to the timely needs of the recipients. And as I went through my recent period of challenge, her goodness shone into my life and I am lifted by the Lord's assurance shown through her goodness.

A new colleague of mine also possesses this trait. Though he hardly knew me when I first joined the company, he saw that I was struggling and took effort to encourage me, shared with me how the Lord had also lifted Him up and thus assured me that the Lord will do the same to me as well. He offered his time and showed his concern for me out of the goodness of his heart. I am blessed.

When one is possessed by the Spirit's goodness, we will see hospitality, genuine concern, generosity, benevolence flowing out of him. As with the other traits, we cannot manufacture goodness; it comes only when the Holy Spirit sanctifies us and works through us.

Be aware when you see yourself being more hospitable than you normally are, or being more generous than ever before - acknowledge and thank the Holy Spirit for giving you this fruit. Then honor Him by continuing to let goodness flow from your heart and bless those around you.

God bless.

Steven

The world needs kindness

Kindness stems from a tender heart. It is a result of the Holy Spirit's compassion for a lost and dying humanity.

Kindness causes one not to ask "How many times must I forgive someone who sins against me?" or "Isn't there a limit to how much abuse I shall take?" It simply keeps giving and forgiving, despite being abused or rejected.

Jesus exhibited this trait by always wanting to respond to some one's call for help. He had time to heal the blind man, the leper, the woman with internal bleeding, the centurion's servant....

Kindness, like the other traits of the fruit of the Spirit, cannot be manufactured. Only the Holy Spirit can give it to those who are willing to yield and obey.

The world today needs kindness to be shown. Many lost souls and even believers are in need of a word of encouragement, a hand to help them handle someone sick, money just to buy food for the day and so on. I pray that we will respond as the Holy Spirit manifest the trait in our life.

Let us be yielded vessel for the glory of His kingdom.

God bless.

Patience - we all need it

The fourth trait of the Holy Spirit's fruit is patience.

Many times when I think of patience, I think of waiting. But there is much more to what the Holy Spirit gives to us in this trait.

The definition of this word include endurance, constancy, steadfastness, forbearance, long-suffering and slowness in avenging wrongs. Patience is not just about waiting. It is characterized by an ability to suffer reproof, to suffer affliction or to bear injuries without answering in kind.

This is tough for us to do on our own. We always want our rights protected. When someone wrongs us, we want to set it right and perhaps even to take revenge. But Jesus set the perfect example for us as recorded in 1 Peter 2:23, "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." While He was accused and abused, the Lord did not retaliate but entrusted Himself to God.

In my many years of working, I have had my fair share of being falsely accused, blamed for things that I did not do and still being asked to take responsibility. There would always be a strong feeling of being wronged, of injustice and the natural reaction is to defend myself.

Up till 3 year ago, I would fight for "my rights" when I am wrong. Sometimes, I would even go to the extreme to dig and find the faults of my accusers so as to get back at them. I remember some of those times and it was not very Christ-like. I did not "turn the other cheek" as the Lord had taught (Matthew 5:38-40).

Recently, I encountered a similar situation and was told to take responsibility for something that I did not do. My accuser was simply being unreasonable at that point. But I was amazed that my reaction was totally different this time. I did not retort, neither was I angry. I simply remained calm and let the accusation pass.

At first I thought that I was simply tired of fighting back until I began to read Gal 5. I then realized that my changed reaction was a manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit - hallelujah! And that is why I am sharing this in my blog.

God can and will change us if we avail ourselves to Him. As soon as we are filled by the Holy Spirit, He will work in us to manifest His fruit. We cannot manufacture the fruit ourselves; it is given by God.

So, let the Holy Spirit have His way in our lives so that we can be useful for Him.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience ... and still counting.

God bless.

Peace I leave with you

Our dear Lord said in John 14:26-27, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

This word in Greek is eirene used to describe peace means "the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is."

This is the third trait of the fruit of the Spirit, coming after love and joy.

The first peace that Jesus left with us is the peace with God - because of His death, we have made peace with God and thus can go boldly before Him and call Him Abba Father. This peace comes as a result of our salvation by faith.

The peace that Jesus gives to us is the antidote to worry. That's why Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." This peace allows one to be untroubled in the face of difficult circumstances. It is peace that allowed Jesus to sleep soundly in the boat while a storm was raging on the outside.

Many Christians at various times of their life also do not have this peace. We are prone to worry.
Even the disciples in the same boat with Jesus worried beyond rationality and did not have this peace when the storm raged.

The Lord is leading me through a journey of experiencing this first hand in recent months. I am learning again that peace is not the absence of fear and challenges. In fact, it is quite the opposite. His peace becomes most apparent in the face of adversity. Instead of assuring me that He will remove the difficulties, He assured me with Deuteronomy 31:8, "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

To have this peace requires faith. And faith being the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen, means that we have to trust Him especially when we are in the valley and cannot see the light at the other end.

Oswald Chambers called this total abandonment to God - "But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do. Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions."

He also spoke of gracious uncertainty - "Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life— gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring."

Paul wrote in Phil 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

While I still have struggles, I want to declare that I am depending on the Holy Spirit as my Comforter and Counselor to give me the peace of God. Only then can I push forward positively, only then can I have good sleep every night and only then can I face tomorrow with joy and peace.

Peace is indeed a trait of the fruit of the Spirit that we have to learn to accept.

God bless.

Steven

The joy of the Lord is our strength

Tim La Haye says that pessimism is a grave fault.

Indeed it is. Pessimism takes away the gracious emotion of joy that our Creator wants His children to have. It kills hope. Without joy and hope, life becomes meaningless.

I believe that this is the reason why the second trait of the Spirit's fruit is joy.

The world accept joy as fatuous, that is it comes only when the circumstance is good and joy giving. The devil certainly wants to rob us of our joy. Quite simply, when joy is gone, our strength to stand up to him will also be gone.

The Holy Spirit, on the contrary, is a joy giver.

The joy that the Holy Spirit gives is enduring and not limited by circumstance. It bubbles up from the grace of God that is in us, from knowing the blessedness of being in an intimate relationship with our Abba Father. This joy remains even in the midst of tribulation. This is a supernatural joy that is available only from the Holy Spirit's work in our life. This joy comes from being filled by the Holy Spirit.

From this holy joy comes strength. Strength to live for His glory, strength to overcome challenges and grieve..... Nehemiah 8:10b says, "Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

I know this first hand. I lost my joy for a short period recently and I lost my strength. But I thank God that He extended His hand towards me and rescued me. He assured me that as I yield to the Holy Spirit, the joy of the Lord will be my strength. Hallelujah!

In John 15:1-17, our Lord Jesus urges us to remain in Him so that "my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (v11).

I urge you to ask the Holy Spirit to fill you constantly so that you can remain in Him and receive His joy - indeed, the joy of the Lord is our strength!

God bless.

Steven

But the greatest of these is love!

As I study Gal 5: 16-26, I learn that as we are filled by the Holy Spirit, we will start to manifest the fruit of Spirit. The fruit is not the same as the spiritual gifts stated in 1 Cor 12, where God gives different gifts to different believers. The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. It is a manifestation of being filled by the Holy Spirit. For this reason, every one of these 9 traits must be manifested in us as we yield to the Spirit and allow Him to refine us.

The first of the 9 traits of the fruit is love.

The Apostle Paul said (paraphrased) , "If I speak in tongues, have the gift of prophesy, faith that can move mountains, and give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor 13:1-3). He concluded the chapter with this, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor 13:13

I further learned that this is the love for God and love for our fellowmen (whom God loves too). This is His command to us in Mark 12:30-31 - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength......love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

The temptations offered by the fallen material kingdom are real and attractive, even to born again Christians. To live in this world and yet not to be of the world, we need to have a love for God. This love causes us to be focused in the matters of His kingdom than the material kingdom. This is the first reason for love to be the first trait of the Spirit's fruit.

We cannot be good for His kingdom if we do not have love for our fellowmen. God loves all that He has created, and we must similarly possess and profess that same love. For what good is any of us who claim to believe in Him and yet not be interested to help those who are in need, those who are suffering? If we have the love of God in us, it must be manifested by our desires and actions to bless others.

The love that the Holy Spirit gives us, makes us want to obey God. No wonder the first trait of the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE.

Let's daily pray for the Spirit to fill us, (since we really cannot get enough of His in-filling, we might as well ask for it constantly) so that His fruit will be manifested in and through us, for His glory.

God bless.

Steven

Life by the Spirit

My wife and I took a short break over the Good Friday weekend. I needed a break badly. I needed to recharge spiritually and mentally. We went away to sought the Lord. He was there for us!

I started the trip with a heart's cry for His help to overcome the challenges that I am facing in my new job. I came home assured by the Lord that He is my strength. I learned that it is not my circumstances that have to change but I who must be changed.

Recently, a dear brother from my cell group gave me a book on human temperament by Tim LaHaye. One section expounded on how the Holy Spirit will change the fundamental temperament of each individual when they are filled by the Holy Spirit. The result is the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in a believer's life. The fruit (yes, singular) is manifested through love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This is found in Gal 5:22-26.

What has this got to do with my situation? As I studied the 9 traits of the fruit, I began to see that my current challenges are but a test to show how many of the traits that I have yet to allow Him to work on me. As I study each of them, I begin to understand why I am reacting the way I did, which was so different from what I would have done years ago. Where I thought I had lost my self-confidence to fight back, I realized that the Spirit is working in me instead.

The Holy Spirit is God's comforter for me (and us all). Being constantly filled by the Spirit allows me to be strengthened and be aligned to His will and plan for me. Praise the Lord!

In the next 10 weeks, I will share my learning about the 9 traits of the fruit of the Spirit. Let's learn together and share to encourage each other.

God bless.

Steven