I remember once being in a prayer meeting when I was on the floor worshipping and praying, looking at the Lord with expectation, quite stressed about a few things that had happened that week. Sometimes people have a tendency to go with the flow of a church service, not really thinking about what they are doing. They are worshipping without engaging, enjoying the atmosphere but not much more. That’s not what I was doing that day. My focus was on the Lord. I was concentrating on Him intently and anticipating His help.
As I looked to Him, God showed me a vision of myself. I was sitting at a window, looking out at a beautiful garden on a summer’s day. The Holy Spirit came and sat right beside me. He was relaxed, at ease. Then He just began to speak promises from Scripture that took away all my fear. “Ah, thank you for reminding me of that,” I said. He gave me three verses, and one after the other, everything I was worried about was covered. He just smiled at me, and the fact that He was at ease put me at ease.
That’s how fellowship with Him affects us. You begin to receive the peace He carries just by being with Him.
Peace is part of the fruit of the Spirit, along with eight other traits listed in Galatians 5. This isn’t a comprehensive list of the blessings He brings; the Holy Spirit’s blessings can’t be limited to just nine attributes. But this fruit is life-changing if we understand and apply what Scripture is saying about how we can live in them. We are called to walk in and manifest the fruit of the Spirit, and He freely gives it to us.
Now the works of the flesh are revealed, which are these: adultery, sexual immorality, impurity, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, rage, selfishness, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I previously warned you, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control; against such there is no law. Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts (Gal. 5:19-24).
The good news is that if you are born again and walking in fellowship with the Spirit, you don’t desire those old acts of the flesh anymore. You have the mind of Christ, which includes His motives and desires. If the enemy comes and says to you, “You want this,” all you need to do is look to the Holy Spirit and say, “Help me remember who I am and where I am. Ah, yes, Lord—as Jesus is so am I in this world. Christ is now living in me. I have no need of those things anymore, because what I have now is so much better. I belong to Jesus, and my sinful nature has been crucified with Him. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for your help.” If you ask Him, He will help you remember those truths in times of need.
I know many Christians who beat themselves up for not living in the fruit of the Spirit, saying things such as, “I need more patience,” or, “I should have more joy.” Philippians says to “let everyone come to know your gentleness” (Phil. 4:5a). That tells us that gentleness is a part of our character, and we have a choice to agree with and live out of it. Scripture doesn’t say, “Try to be gentle.” It says, “Let everyone come to know your gentleness.” By faith every day, you need to reckon yourself dead to yourself and alive to the nature of Christ so you can live out of His nature. Christ manifests all the fruit of the Spirit, so as you walk by faith in what has happened through the cross and in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, you can also manifest the fruit of the Spirit.
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