Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Leaders live for the will of God, and they live to lead others to know the will of God in their lives. The will of God for each of us is that we are filled with His Spirit, led by His Spirit, and manifest a testimony of God’s Spirit in our everyday world. In these things we will fulfill the purpose of God in our lives.
When we are filled with God’s Spirit we bear the fruit of the Spirit. This will make us loving people. We will know joy and we will be people who exhibit the joy of the Lord even in difficult times. We will live with a testimony of God’s peace. Holy Spirit will empower us to endure. We will be longsuffering in our attitude and actions, and we will be patient and understanding of others. We will be kind. We will be good and do good for others in our world. When we are filled with God’s Spirit, we will be faithful to God and faithful in His way towards others. We will be gentle. When we are filled with God’s Spirit we will exhibit self-control. These are the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
My word for this year is “truth”. When we know the truth, the truth will make us free. The fruit of the Spirit is manifest in the lives of those who are free. When we embrace the truth, we will always find the testimony of the fruit of the Spirit. Things that we deem to be true are not necessarily the same as things that are truth. Living for God’s will leads us into the truth. In the truth there is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When these things are not present, we are missing something of the truth.
Galatians 5:24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
We don’t live for the will of our flesh. We don’t live for the passions of our own opinions. When we live for our own agendas, we become conceited. We provoke others with an attitude of self-righteousness. We seek to benefit ourselves and our own ways through the destruction of others. This is the way of the carnal world. This is not the way of sons and daughters of God.
We don’t always get things right, but when the fruit of the Spirit is not present in our lives, we must reassess our focus. Reaction to the ways of the world is not the same as actions empowered by faith in Christ. Faith comes by hearing God in our hearts and God’s voice gives us life-giving desires, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and a life-giving fear of the Lord. The fruit of God’s Spirit brings God’s holiness to our spirits, souls, and physical expressions of life to our world. This is not some pious religious testimony. It is a testimony of life to others in our world.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
