Sunday, January 31, 2010
Hey everyone! Here's the super dry long lesson on print.
Have fun readingggg...
So, what is the fruit of the spirit?
It is the products in a person's life after the transformational power of Jesus Christ.
Now, I'm gonna draw up three comparisons of the righteous vs the ungodly.
#1 Psalm 1:3&4 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so; but are like chaff which the wind driveth away.
Imagin blowing against chaff, does it fly away?
What about if you blow against a tree?
So the righteous are like trees that prosper and continually bring forth fruit, but the ungodly are without foundations and blow away in the wind.
Verse 2: But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night
=>The righteous meditate on God's word. That is how they get their firm foundations and the ability to withstand being swayed.
#2 Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in the salt land and not inhabited.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
In fact, the waters that the righteous drink of here are not just any waters. They are an endless supply of water that will produce everlasting life.
John4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
*Can you imagin a delicate plant in a scorching desert vs a tree beside a river getting everything abundantly? Which will die first?
The difference between the righteous and the ungodly here is that the righteous trust in the Lord, but the ungodly trust in men.
#3 Psalm 92:7, 12-15 7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish: it is that they shall be destroyed forever.
12-15 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing. To show that the Lord is upright, he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
The ungodly are like grass. Can you imagin giving grass to your girlfriend on Valentines Day? I think she'll slap you and dump you for some other guy. Why?
Here are some of grasses characteristics:
@Common
@Shortlived
@Plain, boring
@Doesn't produce flowers or any sort of fruit.
But the righteous are like palm trees and cedar trees.
Granted you wont wanna give those trees to your girlfriend on V Day either, but, here are some of their properties:
Palm Tree: Resilient, can weather the harshest of climates.
Cedar tree: Love-lived, and produce sweet fruit.
->God will supply us with the everlasting and inexhaustible grace that is fresh every morning, that will allow us to withstand the desert.
But the thing about fruit is that time is needed for them to grow. They need careful nurturing, and only when the time is right, will the fruit appear. You need the right seed, you need to plant that seed and nurture it on God. God will grow the tree and make it bear fruit.
However, many people seek to cut the process short. They get impatient, they try and do things of their own strength, in their own timing. That will not bear them fruit.
1 such person was Moses: Exodus 2:11-14 , 19
He wanted to make a difference in the lives of the Israelites, but he did it the wrong way, out of his own strength, and out of God's timing.
He was sowing the wrong seeds, grown the wrong tree and produced corrupt fruit.
As a result, they called him, in verse 19, Egyptian. Not Israelite, not man of God, not priest, but Egyptian.
Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt; and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
Feed the spirit with more of itself, let it grow and multiply. Become less, let the spirit take control and become more.
The fruit of the spirit is not men's work for men, even out of good intentions, but men's work for God, for the Spirit, letting it use us as a vessel.
John 12:24 Verily, verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into a ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
->Die to men, to be born again in the spirit.
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
What is cruicifiction? It is a horrible form of death reserved for the worst people.
So not only are we to kill sin in our lives, we are also to hate it and make the conscious choice to stay away from it.
Many people today view Christianity more as a form of bondage rather than freedom.
But lets look at what their view of freedom is.
-> The freedom to say vulgar words, the freedom to murder, the freedom to steal, the freedom to lust, the freedom to lie.
Is this really freedom?
Is it freedom when you lose yourself, every sense of who you are, when you move from your true identity as a child of God to become a slave to sin, when what you do out of freedom brings you bondage and restriction?
Galatians 5:13-21
The word of God gives support, not bondage.
It provides retraint, not restriction
The freedom of Christianity is the freedom to love, to be joyful, to have peace, to have patience, to be kind, to do good, to have faith, to be gentle and to have self-control.
V15 If we are free to sin, everyone will live for themselves and destroy everyone else.
V21 But we will not be free to enter God's kingdom.
V17 We, as Christians, are not free to sin, but are to live in the spirit and triumph over sin.
V24 A Christian, having recieved Christ, should turn his back on sin.
So then, what do we do to the weeds that choke up our tree?
Galatians 5:15 Weeds are self-destructive.
V17 And destroy the good seed sown by God
V24 So crucify them.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:11-12 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Why did Peter withdraw out of fear of the Jews?
-He was afraid of losing favour
- He was a hypocrite in this account, and thus perverted the gospel.
But Paul (Galatians 2:20I am crucified with Christ) was not guilty of this.
How did Paul get the strength to withstand the temptation of doing his works for men?
This is what he says: Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me.
When I speak of living, I do not mean myself. As a Christian, I have been united with Christ.
Jeremiah 17:8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when the heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Paul is like this tree that has been united to Christ, planted by the waters, his foundations run deep, he can withstand any temptations and he will continually bear fruit.
He further goes on to say: Galatians 2:20 And the life which I know live in the flesh, I live by faith of the son of God.
1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus; who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
For Paul, faith is the instrument that unites him to Christ, and in Christ Jesus he has wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Basically, Paul has all he needs. If he finds in Christ all that he needs, why should he be afraid, and why should he seek the favour of others?
Crucifiction of the flesh not only means death to sin, but also regeneration in Christ, the Spirit.
- You will be a new being, given a new lease of life.
- The chaff is now a tree, the heath is a cedar and the fruitless vine is now bearing fruit.
But the new man is not perfect.
The battlefield continues.
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But although the new man is a battlefield, he is not passive but active and will have to choose sides.
His resources will be to (Gal5:16) walk in the Spirit and (Gal5:18) be led by the Spirit, because he already (Gal5:25) lives by the Spirit.
Walking : Conduct, do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Being led: Conformity to the will of the Spirit, following where it guides you.
Remember also to produce lasting fruit, not temporal, artificial fruit, and be satisfied. It is one of Satan's tactics to give some people a light taste of Christianity and be satisfied and not get the real thing. We need to discern true fruit from artificial fruit.
Thats about it! =)
If you've made it reading this far, you're pretty amazing.... lol..
Memory Verse of the week:
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Have a God blessed week!
-J
Have fun readingggg...
So, what is the fruit of the spirit?
It is the products in a person's life after the transformational power of Jesus Christ.
Now, I'm gonna draw up three comparisons of the righteous vs the ungodly.
#1 Psalm 1:3&4 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so; but are like chaff which the wind driveth away.
Imagin blowing against chaff, does it fly away?
What about if you blow against a tree?
So the righteous are like trees that prosper and continually bring forth fruit, but the ungodly are without foundations and blow away in the wind.
Verse 2: But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night
=>The righteous meditate on God's word. That is how they get their firm foundations and the ability to withstand being swayed.
#2 Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in the salt land and not inhabited.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
In fact, the waters that the righteous drink of here are not just any waters. They are an endless supply of water that will produce everlasting life.
John4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
*Can you imagin a delicate plant in a scorching desert vs a tree beside a river getting everything abundantly? Which will die first?
The difference between the righteous and the ungodly here is that the righteous trust in the Lord, but the ungodly trust in men.
#3 Psalm 92:7, 12-15 7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish: it is that they shall be destroyed forever.
12-15 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing. To show that the Lord is upright, he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
The ungodly are like grass. Can you imagin giving grass to your girlfriend on Valentines Day? I think she'll slap you and dump you for some other guy. Why?
Here are some of grasses characteristics:
@Common
@Shortlived
@Plain, boring
@Doesn't produce flowers or any sort of fruit.
But the righteous are like palm trees and cedar trees.
Granted you wont wanna give those trees to your girlfriend on V Day either, but, here are some of their properties:
Palm Tree: Resilient, can weather the harshest of climates.
Cedar tree: Love-lived, and produce sweet fruit.
->God will supply us with the everlasting and inexhaustible grace that is fresh every morning, that will allow us to withstand the desert.
But the thing about fruit is that time is needed for them to grow. They need careful nurturing, and only when the time is right, will the fruit appear. You need the right seed, you need to plant that seed and nurture it on God. God will grow the tree and make it bear fruit.
However, many people seek to cut the process short. They get impatient, they try and do things of their own strength, in their own timing. That will not bear them fruit.
1 such person was Moses: Exodus 2:11-14 , 19
He wanted to make a difference in the lives of the Israelites, but he did it the wrong way, out of his own strength, and out of God's timing.
He was sowing the wrong seeds, grown the wrong tree and produced corrupt fruit.
As a result, they called him, in verse 19, Egyptian. Not Israelite, not man of God, not priest, but Egyptian.
Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt; and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
Feed the spirit with more of itself, let it grow and multiply. Become less, let the spirit take control and become more.
The fruit of the spirit is not men's work for men, even out of good intentions, but men's work for God, for the Spirit, letting it use us as a vessel.
John 12:24 Verily, verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into a ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
->Die to men, to be born again in the spirit.
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
What is cruicifiction? It is a horrible form of death reserved for the worst people.
So not only are we to kill sin in our lives, we are also to hate it and make the conscious choice to stay away from it.
Many people today view Christianity more as a form of bondage rather than freedom.
But lets look at what their view of freedom is.
-> The freedom to say vulgar words, the freedom to murder, the freedom to steal, the freedom to lust, the freedom to lie.
Is this really freedom?
Is it freedom when you lose yourself, every sense of who you are, when you move from your true identity as a child of God to become a slave to sin, when what you do out of freedom brings you bondage and restriction?
Galatians 5:13-21
The word of God gives support, not bondage.
It provides retraint, not restriction
The freedom of Christianity is the freedom to love, to be joyful, to have peace, to have patience, to be kind, to do good, to have faith, to be gentle and to have self-control.
V15 If we are free to sin, everyone will live for themselves and destroy everyone else.
V21 But we will not be free to enter God's kingdom.
V17 We, as Christians, are not free to sin, but are to live in the spirit and triumph over sin.
V24 A Christian, having recieved Christ, should turn his back on sin.
So then, what do we do to the weeds that choke up our tree?
Galatians 5:15 Weeds are self-destructive.
V17 And destroy the good seed sown by God
V24 So crucify them.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:11-12 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Why did Peter withdraw out of fear of the Jews?
-He was afraid of losing favour
- He was a hypocrite in this account, and thus perverted the gospel.
But Paul (Galatians 2:20I am crucified with Christ) was not guilty of this.
How did Paul get the strength to withstand the temptation of doing his works for men?
This is what he says: Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me.
When I speak of living, I do not mean myself. As a Christian, I have been united with Christ.
Jeremiah 17:8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when the heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Paul is like this tree that has been united to Christ, planted by the waters, his foundations run deep, he can withstand any temptations and he will continually bear fruit.
He further goes on to say: Galatians 2:20 And the life which I know live in the flesh, I live by faith of the son of God.
1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus; who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
For Paul, faith is the instrument that unites him to Christ, and in Christ Jesus he has wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Basically, Paul has all he needs. If he finds in Christ all that he needs, why should he be afraid, and why should he seek the favour of others?
Crucifiction of the flesh not only means death to sin, but also regeneration in Christ, the Spirit.
- You will be a new being, given a new lease of life.
- The chaff is now a tree, the heath is a cedar and the fruitless vine is now bearing fruit.
But the new man is not perfect.
The battlefield continues.
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But although the new man is a battlefield, he is not passive but active and will have to choose sides.
His resources will be to (Gal5:16) walk in the Spirit and (Gal5:18) be led by the Spirit, because he already (Gal5:25) lives by the Spirit.
Walking : Conduct, do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Being led: Conformity to the will of the Spirit, following where it guides you.
Remember also to produce lasting fruit, not temporal, artificial fruit, and be satisfied. It is one of Satan's tactics to give some people a light taste of Christianity and be satisfied and not get the real thing. We need to discern true fruit from artificial fruit.
Thats about it! =)
If you've made it reading this far, you're pretty amazing.... lol..
Memory Verse of the week:
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Have a God blessed week!
-J
what we could have been, 10:38 PM.
