Fruit of the Spirit

What happens when Jesus becomes our Priority?

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Jesus is first and we want to enter into His constant stream of goodness, truth, and the reality of who He is. What happens when we do this? What are the natural outcomes of putting Jesus first? First, there are a few ways we can do this. These are Spiritual Disciples or arrows we can pull out can use.

Briefly:

Scripture

We saw we can do this by reading Scripture. We can take time to dedicate ourselves to reading His Word, to be transformed by His truth. We can also take time to let Him speak as only He can by His Spirit.

Silence and Solitude

We can practice silence and solitude. In our culture, we do not value silence and solitude. We have so many noises around us, so many voices calling for our attention, and so many distractions that a great arrow we can pull out of our quiver is silence and solitude. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” We need to be still.

Practicing the Presence of God

We can and we need to change the way we think. Instead of going to a time with God, we incorporate the practice of always being with Him. We can see Him in the most mundane of actions because He is always present.

St Patrick said

“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.”

Outcomes:

There are a few things that happen in us and in our lives when we place Jesus first. Just like with the arrows in our quiver, there are many outcomes to placing Jesus first. Just two quick ones.

Transformed:

One is we are transformed. We become like Him. Romans 8:29 in the NLT says,

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

When we place Jesus first, when we practice spiritual disciplines, when we use the arrows we have been talking about we become more like Jesus.

We used to be one thing but as we seek Jesus and make Him a priority we become “blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world” Phil 2:15 says.

When we become more like Jesus, we start to do things like Jesus did. We weep with those who weep we mourn with those who mourn, and we rejoice with people. We begin to react and think like our Savior.

Our Desires Change:

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, Eph 5:18-19

When Jesus becomes thepriority, we no longer desire to be filled with other things, instead, we desire to be filled with the Spirit and in that we desire to build others up.

There is another thing that happens. There is something that is produced in us.

In John 15:4-8 Jesus Says,

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so, you will be My disciples.

Fruit is a byproduct of Priorities and Strategies

What does this teach us? It teaches us that Fruit is a byproduct of Priorities and Strategies. It teaches us that abiding in Jesus, which is another way of saying placing Jesus first in our lives, produces fruit. The act of making Jesus a priority means the fruit will be produced. That is the natural order of things. An apple tree produces apples, and an orange tree produces oranges. That is just how it works. Abiding in Jesus produces fruit. It is as natural as a tree producing its fruit. It is not the goal it is the natural outcome. It is not something to strive for, it is the result. It is not something we produce; it is something produced in us.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

This is what is produced in us as we give ourselves to Jesus. This is what the Holy Spirit does inside of us. We get love, we get joy, we get peace, we get patience, we get kindness, we get goodness, we get faithfulness, we get gentleness, and we get self-control. We do not earn them. We do not work for it. We do not strive for it. We just get it because we abide in Christ.

The things we give ourselves to produce things inside of us. For good or for bad. If you want to know what your priorities are look at the results you have.

It is the opposite of working for it. If you lack love in your life, do not try to love harder. If you lack patience do not strive for patience. Instead focus on Jesus. We make Him first; we give ourselves over to Him and spiritual disciplines. Then these things will be produced in us.

One of my favorite spiritual disciplines is cleaning. I have been doing it for years. I clean because something is dirty, I clean because I want to do it, so my bride does not have to, but ultimately my motivation for cleaning is as an act of worship and surrender to Christ. In doing it, something changes in me. I am terrified of becoming prideful. I don’t know why; I am just on guard against it. So, to help me with this I clean the bathroom. It is hard to think of yourself as something great while scrubbing a toilet.

Again, and this is so important. This is not transactional. We don’t tell Jesus, “I’ll give you 20 minutes of silence and solitude for 8oz of love please.” NO, we seek Him, we desire Him, we make Him the priority, and then He changes us we find a greater capacity to love.

If we put the focus on Christ and Him as priority, then we get more than we could have ever bargained for.

C.S. Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither.”[1]

Everything changes because the focus changes. The point is this: If you want the fruit of the Spirit, Abide in Christ and give yourself to spiritual disciplines because fruit is a byproduct of placing Jesus first.

Fruit Attracts Hungry People

Then something amazing happens. Something beyond expectation occurs. Other people are drawn to the change that occurs within us because fruit attracts hungry people.

Acts 2:1 tells us that all the Disciples were together in the upper room and the Spirit fell on them. What were they doing? Acts 1:14 tells us they were practicing spiritual disciples. They were praying, they were placing Jesus first and then the Spirit fell on them. He was changing them and then things changed.

If we jump down to Acts 2:42 it tells us this group of people devoted themselves to spiritual disciples. They made Jesus a priority and because of this, the outcome, the result, was the entire community was changed. This is because the people saw something that drew them in.

The early church did all sorts of things. We can read about some of these things in the Bible. Feeding programs for the poor and the widows. Healing and prayer ministries that were off the charts. Racial reconciliation. Other things are not recorded in the Bible but things that history tells us the early church did. For example, the early church spoke out against abortion and infanticide. An article on the Gospel Coalition talks about this:

More than merely condemning abortion and infanticide, however, early Christians provided alternatives by rescuing and adopting children who were abandoned. For instance, Callistus (d. c. A.D. 223) provided refuge to abandoned children by placing them in Christian homes, and Benignus of Dijon (3rd century) offered nourishment and protection to abandoned children, including some with disabilities caused by unsuccessful abortions.[2]

The early church was nonstop in going against the grain of the culture and doing things that shamed the people of their day because of the love, devotion, and care they had. BUT and this is of utmost importance. Everything they did as a byproduct of placing Jesus first and practicing spiritual disciples. They used the same arrows we have been talking about. The ministries they had, the compassion they felt for their fellow man, and the love they had for the vulnerable was because Jesus was first.

They were not threatened by the world because they knew who they belonged to.

They were radical, first in their pursuit of Christ, and second in their love for others.

We practice the same spiritual disciplines and serve the same God.

We make Jesus the priority, we place Jesus first and we get changed by the Spirit of God. Then our community gets changed by the Spirit of God. If we want revival, if we want renewal in our homes and our communities to be changed, then it starts with Abiding in Christ, letting Him produce fruit in us, and then letting that fruit out. We need to be radical in love for Jesus and be willing to live life in abandon.

Just a thought,

Mike

[1] Mere Christianity

[2] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/abortion-and-early-church/

Malus Pumila and the Fruit of the Spirit

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Today I want to look at the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5. If you grew up in church or if you have kids you have taken to church, you might know the song about how bananas, grapes, apples, and other produce are not the fruit of the Spirit. But before we get to the fruit of the Spirit I want to talk about an actual fruit. This ride might get a little bumpy so hold on…

A malus pumila produces a very specific kind of fruit. There is really no other fruit like it on earth. There are some other fruits that can look kind of like it. Some have similar shapes, and some have similar taste but there is really nothing like the fruit of a malus pumila. Let me try and describe it to you. The fruit of malus pumila is sweet but sometimes a little sour, round, usually red, juicy, firm, crisp, and most of all delicious. I honestly do not eat enough of the malus pumila fruit which is sad because it is readily available being an apple and all.

See I could have just said the fruit of an apple tree (malus pumila) is an apple but by describing it I gave you all its features. I told you what you are getting. When you have an apple you don’t have red, or sweet, or crisp. Instead, you have an apple that is those things. Now taste is somewhat subjective so you might not like apples and that’s OK but I think you get my point – the description is the thing. So, what is the fruit of the Spirit?

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. These are not fruits of the Spirit. There is not a fruit of love, or joy, or peace, and so on. I would argue that there is one fruit and it is Christlikeness. Why would I say this? Simply put because I think God says it.

Romans 8:29 says that we are being conformed to the image of the Son. God’s purpose is to make us more like Christ. That is one reason the Holy Spirit lives in us. We are to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead now lives in us. We are to be more like Jesus. 1 John 2:6 says we are to walk as Jesus walked. Jesus walked in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. He walked according the Spirit (Luke 4:1) and so should we.

We should read Galatians 5:22-23 and see a list not of individual fruits to be cultivated but a singular fruit that is a wonderful thing. We should see a list of things that should describe us and things that we are to be. Peter says that we have all we need for a life of godliness in us and this is because the Holy Spirit is in us producing His fruit of Christlikeness which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. If we find that we are short peace for example, we don’t need to pray for the fruit of peace we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and to make us more like Christ in that area. We need to confess our need for Him to continue to produce His fruit. Thinking about the list differently changes it from a list of things I need to do to a list of gifts I can have to make me more like Jesus and that is the goal. Jesus is the prize the descriptions of that fruit are not. If we are just chasing the descriptions, we run the risk of missing the mark and we can quickly fall into legalism. We are empowered by the Spirit by Christ to be more like Christ.

Just a thought,

Mike

Praying for gifts

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Today I want to talk about the Holy Spirit. There are many things that can be discussed when talking about the Holy Spirit because as an equal member of the Godhead He is holy and magnificent. The Holy Spirit is, along with the Father and Son, the power that raised Jesus from the grave. If you don’t believe me read Romans 8:11, John 10:17-18, and Acts 2:24. When we read Scripture in its totality we get a bigger and better picture than if we just read one part. When we read Scriptures together we start to see a picture develop that we cannot see by reading a verse here and a verse there and so partly that is what I want to do here. Now granted I will be using a verse here and a verse there but that is also the difference between writing about Scripture and a personal Scripture reading. What I think might be helpful is to look at a few things that Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit does or offers.

The Holy Spirit gives us the power to speak Acts 1:8; 1:16; 2:4 and so on. The Holy Spirit gives us direction see Acts 8:26 and 13:2. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts see 1 Cor 12:8-11. The Spirit also has fruit for us see Gal 5:22-23. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the ability to confess that Jesus is Lord see 1 Cor 12:3. The Holy Spirit also seals us for salvation see Eph 1:13 and 4:30. Now we could certainly spend an entire post just talking about what the Holy Spirit does and offers but instead, I would like to talk about two specific things – The gifts and the fruit.

This is not meant to be an in-depth talk on either of these things. There is much debate on whether or not the gifts of the Holy Spirit are applicable for the church today and spoiler alert I believe they are but regardless let’s at least look at the ones that are not questioned. Generally speaking, most Christians will agree that wisdom, knowledge, faith, and discernment are active gifts today. That is a long enough list for me right now.

If we look at the Fruit of the Spirit we have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I would dare say that all Christians believe this list to be correct and active and while the lists are quite different they do have some things in common.

I have belabored my point long enough so the topic for today is this – Is your praying for the gifts or fruit of the Spirit in vain? Now there are quite a few reasons why it could be in vain. You could have sin in your life that prohibits God from pouring out these gifts and allowing that fruit to be produced. You could simply not actually believe in Jesus as the risen Lord in which case the gifts and fruit are of no use. You could be wasting the gifts and spoiling the fruit you have been given to which no more would be added. Lastly and I think much more common you could be asking for these gifts with the proper context.

First, if we look at the gifts of the Spirit we have again wisdom, knowledge, faith, and discernment which all carry a common thread throughout them. These gifts are mostly for you to use on or with someone else. If you add healing and interpretation of tongues back in the mix we see even more that the gifts are for you to use on or for others.

What good would it be for God to give you a message wisdom if there is no one around to deliver this message to? Yes, you might be built up but for what purpose? What purpose does a message of knowledge have if there is no one in need of that knowledge? Yes, you may receive some insight but to what end? A gift of faith is great to help you get through the situation but lacks any real power without others to receive a bolstering to their own faith or encouraging from it. As to discernment like the others, it has some personal benefit but if you are struggling for discernment that much alone you have bigger problems.

For the gifts to be used to their full capacity you need others to receive the benefit of the gift. So, my question is this, how often are you spending time in community? If you are praying for or simply desire for the gifts are you also in situations that requires the use of them? If not, I think you may pray and desire in vain. James says that often we pray and do not receive because we pray with the wrong motives. We often link this to material prayer requests but could spiritual gifts not also be included here? Do you pray for these gifts so that you may spend them on others? Why pray for something that must be used in community if you do not want to spend time in community? Additionally, if you are not already spending your time in community then would you really spend the gifts of the Spirit in community. If we do not spend what we have freely in community then why would we think God would give us more to spend in community? If you desire the gift of wisdom but refuse to be around people who need wisdom then what good is the gift? If we desire the gift of faith but avoid those who are suffering and need someone to intercede then what good is the gift? I might as well live on a sailboat and pray for a motorcycle. I might receive it but it has no value.

If we desire the gifts of the Spirit and more importantly if we desire the Spirit then we must be in places and with people who need those gifts to be active. This requires us to be around broken and hurting people and the good news is that is all of us. We need to be around each other. We need to be active in each other’s lives. We need others and they need us. They receive gifts to spend on us and us on them and this is the community of the early church. Many times I have heard of people asking how do we live like the early church and I do not think it is living in communes, although I am not necessarily opposed to that idea, it is by allowing their lives to intersect with ours. It is by allowing them to be a part of our lives and by that, I mean an actual part. Not a social media part. Not a snapshot of the happy moments part but an actual part of our ups and downs. A part of our good and bad. It is about being willing to let someone pray for your need and correct your sin. We have to be transparent with one another and often this is painful. We need others to be so involved that they can tell when we need help and when we need correction and we need to be willing to accept both.

Next and naturally I think is the fruit of the Spirit which has another common thread which is that the in order to receive the fruit you need adversity. If we look at the list again it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control and if you notice these gifts all require something to make them useful. To group them might help us save space. Love, joy, and peace require hostility. Love must be shown in action and situation because anything less is only a word. Joy requires a trial for you to remain joyful in. Peace should go without saying but peace requires hardship for you to remain peaceful in. The next grouping would be patience, kindness, and goodness and these require trial. Patience requires you to wait for something. Kindness is only shown when you involved with another person who needs that kindness. Goodness or the quality of being good means you have something that requires that goodness. For the last grouping, we have faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control and these require a situation that is not yet complete. Faithfulness means we are waiting and believing for something. Gentleness is the ability to be gentle regardless of the situation. Finally, there is self-control and what use is self-control unless you are being tempted in some way to be selfish and not hold on?

Much like the gifts of the Spirit, the fruit requires and environment to be shown and we should understand that most of the time community will be that environment. Either way, you pray in vain for the fruit if you do not allow situations where hardships and trials can come. If you shut yourself off from community and situations that require you to grow you in a sense refuse the fruit of the Spirit.

 

I for one and am ok with admitting that I need community but it has taken me a long time to get there. I need others to come alongside me and help me grow and mature in my faith. I also realize that in order for me to walk in the gifts that the Spirit has given me I need to be around others to let those gifts be used. This is not hard as it requires sacrifice. It requires time to be spent. It requires you to open yourself up to the possibility of being hurt and you will be. Living in the context of community is one of the hardest and most painful things you can do but I say do it anyway. I am not there, none of us are. As we learn to live in that context God reveals a little more of how we are not doing it and we open a little more. The only way to walk like the first-century church is to walk in the community and I think we can do that.

 

Just a thought,

Mike