Scripture: Galatians 5 v 22 - 23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 meekness, temperance against such there is no law."
When you are born again the measure of faith to believe in God which every human is born with, gets expanded by the Holy Spirit. He uses it like yeast in dough to accelerate your growth. He has a mandate from the Father to turn you into the likeness of Jesus.
Romans 8 v 29 - 30: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
Our Father knew us like He knew Jeremiah....before I formed you in your mother's womb I knew you and ordained you a prophet. That was in the Old Testament. In the New Testament He set us on a course to be conformed to the image of His Son. Why? Because we are part of The Body of Jesus.
What is the "likeness of Jesus"? It is not only that we match tissue perfect, DNA perfect, blood type etc but so that we may have His character fully formed in us as well.
His character is the fruit of the. Holy Spirit. Jesus is LOVE; is JOY; is PEACE; is PATIENCE; etc. As we grow in grace we love more, have more joy, self-control and peace, are kind, patient, humble and good. Jesus manifests through us when we become selfless and the dominant ego is crucified.
We also have to conform to the Ministry of Jesus. Everything He did as a Man empowered by the Holy Spirit, using the gifts to do miracles, healings, deliverance, evangelism, speaking of Heaven, Hell, and rebuking hypocrites. He stood against the Law, the Pharisees, the Philosophers, as an example for us to follow. He was not of this world and neither are born again Christians. We must be different to attract the broken, seeking hearts.
People see Jesus in you by your actions towards them. If your unsaved personality was a fault-finding, grumpy miser, the new you in Christ Jesus will be filled with joy and peace. Will people notice?
For sure and they may even ask "what are you on"! And you can respond "in not on"! I am in Jesus and He is in me and my old nature died under the waters of baptism. I now have the new righteous, loving nature of my Saviour! The measure of faith waiting for a drop of Living Water in them will respond in due time. The Holy Spirit keeps reminding them of your words.
Jesus said that His peace would pass all our understanding. Our souls comprise of our WILL, INTELLECT and EMOTIONS. So Jesus' peace bypasses the soul straight to your heart. Your soul distorts spiritual things and would rather have a tranquilliser to pacify your nerves than peace that you cannot see that needs no medicine. Let the peace and joy of Jesus flow into your heart and throw away man-made counterfeits because the peace never stops flowing and the joy never stops bubbling.
Temperance is another word for self-control. The Holy Spirit takes your wild, tempestuous nature and tames it like a cowboy on a rodeo pony. And He will stay aboard a lot longer than a cowboy! He brings you under the Lordship of Jesus who made you, lost you and bought you back with the Ransom of His own life.
He owns you and everything you possess. You become a steward of His property and must care for yourself and it as perfectly as possible. He let's you drive His car, live in His house and eat His food. You care for His children, swim in His pool and work in His business.
He will provide your upkeep as long as you look after His property. You will know if you are slacking in obedience when things get bumpy, awkward, embarrassing. If finances decrease, relationships are tense, and your car refuses to start, do an audit of your spiritual life. One thing I have truly learned is that condition of your spirit is reflected in everything in your life. Peace love and joy show a spirit fully under God's control. Bitterness, criticism, anger, frustration, brass ceiling blocking prayers, shows you have allowed this world to encroach on God's property.
Longsuffering is also known as patience. James said that the trying of our faith will produce patience. So when our faith is under pressure that is the Holy Spirit using the opportunity to grow faith muscles. It's not God testing us, its the enemy. He wants to rob us of our faith and talents before we become a nuisance. He wants to stop us growing into ferocious opponents of his schemes.
Gentleness is so beautiful. Jesus was gentle with the woman caught in adultery, stopping her imminent death by stoning. He challenged the religious Pharisees that only those without sin could cast the first stone. He started writing their names in the sand, probably all guilty of adultery! They dropped their stones and slunk off.
We must stop being judgmental, critical, fault-finders, and become meek and gentle. Also stop people gossipping and condemning others. With the same measure of judgment we use, we shall be likewise judged. Ask Jesus to change you into a kind and gentle believer. Drop those stones you are about to throw and let Jesus pour His love and forgiveness through you.
On a wider scale the parts of the world not under stress and in a mess are being governed His way. There are not too many places where peace reigns these days. Israel starts a cease fire with Hezbollah this morning. The Archangel Michael watches over Israel, manifested in the Iron Dome and David's Sling.
Jesus created the whole universe and we have this one planet to be good stewards of. Are we going to get blessed or blamed? We need the Holy Spirit to work on everybody to get the self-control, humility, goodness and peace right. Unfortunately not too many people want the fullness of the Spirit of God.
Those of us who do have abundant spiritual fruit have much work to do to be sure that Jesus shines through us into those around us. We must open up our hearts and let the Son shine in. He is the Light of the World and will dazzle the eyes of the spiritually blind and use you to open those unseeing eyes. Just be willing to share with others what Jesus has done to save you and bless you since you believed.
Prayer: Heavenly Father being translated into Your Kingdom and changed into the likeness of Jesus is joy unspeakable and full of glory and the half has never yet been told. We long to be with You forever. Help us to manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit in every place to draw those in darkness into the eternal light. In Jesus' name. Amen.