September 18, 2024

The fruit of the Spirit. At school (www.charisbiblecollege.nl) we recently discussed the fruit of the Spirit. It was explained so beautifully using a mandarin as an example; the fruit of the Spirit is like a mandarin orange, one fruit with several beautiful segments. It is the same with the fruit of the Spirit; it is one fruit with different parts: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The one I want to highlight now is self-control. There was a time when I had quite a bit of trouble controlling myself when it came to eating, drinking, and exercising (and especially the lack of it). I ate poorly, drank too much soda, and the only movement I had was from the couch and back, and at work from my desk to the toilet and back, LOL. I wasn’t really treating my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. In addition to Romans 12:1, God pointed out to me that my body was to be a living sacrifice, and I had to take better care of it.  And especially because I already possessed self-control! Namely, as fruit of the Spirit. In the Spirit, we already possess all those things spoken of in Galatians 5:22. We just have to learn to draw from this. This is different for everyone, and some people have a revelation about it more quickly than others, and that’s okay. But the fact that we already possess it is a truth we can stand on. The moment we chose for King Jesus, our old nature was removed from us, and we received God’s nature complete and sealed with all the power and fruit of the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:17, 1 Corinthians 6:17, Romans 8:9, Galatians 4:6). Mmm, okay, there was still a learning process there, because if I already have all these things in the Spirit, how do I see them manifested in the natural? I thought about it for a while and prayed about it. In the meantime, I asked God to help me to at least make better choices regarding healthier eating and exercise. That went very well after a while, and I also started to lose weight. /*! elementor – v3.23.0 – 05-08-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} Proclaim what you already have I watched a sermon one morning that explained very practically, when you react or act in a way that is not in line with the fruit of the Spirit, you can actually say in short, that you are reacting in your flesh! If we mind the things of the flesh, then we’ll be after the flesh; the physical realm will dominate us. We won’t be able to please God (Romans 8:8) or experience the victory that’s available to us. To unleash God’s power and life, we must conquer your flesh by constantly focusing on who we are and what we have in spirit. Well, that was an eye-opener. I could do something with that! When we are aware of reacting in our flesh, we also know that we have to crucify this. But especially the part of becoming aware when I am in my flesh, that was a learning process (and still is) for me.  I started working on these things, whenever I had a reaction or a thought, I looked to see if it was in line with the fruit, if not, I did my best to subordinate my thoughts and actions and renew my mind according to the Word (Romans 12:2). And so I started with self-control. Sinds I already owned it, I had to learn to drawn from it. I started proclaiming it. I prayed about it, and asked God to help me crucify my flesh and stand on what He had already given me. And, over time, the more I stood on it and renewed my mind in line with God’s Word, the more I saw it manifested.  Also, I started a fixed pattern of getting up at five o’clock for quiet time and reading the Bible, a prayer walk several times a week (short walk with God), healthy food and drinks and exercising several times a week.  Because of self-control, my relationship with God has grown enormously, I am more rooted in the Word, I have gained more knowledge of the Word, I have lost a lot of weight and am much more physically fit.  Is everything smooth and perfect, nope! I am still learning, but knowing what we already have in our possession and how we can see it manifested in the natural, is a big step forward. The moment we choose Jesus, our old nature disappears and we receive God’s nature. However, our old patterns and ways of thinking have now become ingrained, which takes time and dedication to renew our thinking and align it with God’s Word. Like a computer, we need to be reset, so to speak. Draw from your “mandarin orange” You have already received all the “parts” of the fruit of the Spirit; God has already given it to you. I want to challenge you to start standing on it, drawing from the source, your “mandarin orange”, and acknowledging that we are as Jesus is in this world (1 John 4:17, 1 Corinthians 6:17, Ephesians 4:24). Ask God to help you renew your mind, stay in the Word, and embrace this. As you renew your natural mind to think like your new spirit nature, God’s nature, then you’ll experience the life and power of God within you. We have been programmed wrong (by the patterns of this world) and need reprogramming (in line with the Word). Be humble and stand on it; it is the truth, and it belongs to you. Being humble means accepting by faith what God’s Word says about you: “Yes, Lord, I believe You.” Don’t be proud and say, “Well, I don’t know if that’s entirely true; I’m just a sinful person.” In fact, you are then doubting God’s Word